


Call Me Daddy

by Camelabrakedabra



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Daddy Kink, Dd/lb, Friends With Benefits, Headspace, Little Space, M/M, Porn With Plot, bit of sex here and there, it's just 'daddy' in bed to start with but it evolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-09-25 01:35:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9796565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camelabrakedabra/pseuds/Camelabrakedabra
Summary: 0 to 100 real fast. It had barely come out before they were all over each other. Junhui hadn't expected that his little daddy kink would lead to a Friends With Benefits relationship with Minghao, and he certainly hadn't expected it to lead to him falling in love with the adorable little brat.





	1. Oh Daddy?

Over their time as a group, Seventeen had seen their fair share of relationships that went from 0 to 100 faster than anyone thought was possible. There had been a mixture of being shut in rooms together as the group tried to set couples up, to straight-out random relationships where no one could have guessed until both parties had been caught in the middle of secret make out sessions.

Junhui had only hoped for something that normal.

He and Minghao had instead been watching through footage of other groups together at the time. Nothing too weird to begin with, not “scoping out the competition” or any of that business, but rather genuinely enjoying the interviews and game shows. It served as a bonding exercise, if anything. They both shared an interest in what other groups were doing, unlike some of the other members of the group who were primarily into the music side to things, and although they didn't do it often, it was always something to look forward to do together. Of course, they had the added bonus of both being born in China, so they had clicked relatively easily as friends, but at the end of the day there was only so far that a few little similarities would take them.

Granted, they had only really started talking properly because Jeonghan had forced them into it. They weren't really feeling the whole 'make friends just because you're both Chinese' situation to start with - it was too pressured and unnatural, especially since Minghao's Korean wasn't the best, so they would have to talk in Mandarin. There was a period at the start in which Junhui was stubborn and refused to switch from Korean, and likewise Minghao would get frustrated since surely switching to their native tongue was the easier option, but once they had found their mutual interest, all of the pettiness slipped away from them and their friendship began to blossom. Even that aspect of their relationship was quick to change.

It had taken a while for them to stumble upon the specific video that flipped this switch, and frankly Junhui had no idea how they came across it. If he was being honest, he didn't even _want_ to know how they had gotten to it.

One of the topics of conversation in that episode was NCT 127’s Johnny Seo explaining the use of the phrase “oh daddy”.

Those two words alone left Junhui’s stomach in knots. They were words that weren’t used in the intended context very often, but were nonetheless very familiar to him. They were words that Junhui had stumbled upon a few years earlier on a random internet search; ones that he had started off being curious about, but had ended up becoming a conditioned kink that was entirely his own fault for getting involved with.

It wasn’t the most awful, terrifying moment of his life to hear the American-born idol explain the phrase. That would be an incredible exaggeration. Instead, it was more of a shock that others would be using it out loud. More likely in the context as described - when they see an attractive male - as opposed to relating to his kink, but even so, it would surely make fansigns awkward. Especially if they were to get another idol to say the words out loud when he was within close range of them. Whilst he wasn't necessarily attracted to any of the other group members specifically, they were all aesthetically pleasing individuals, and so it would prove to be incredibly difficult for him to make it through that sort of situation and live to tell the tale.

Minghao, on the other hand, found it more hilarious than anything. There was a glimmer of excitement in his eyes as he turned in the seat to face Junhui, who promptly turned to give him the attention that he wanted. “Does he mean ‘oh daddy’? Or...” He paused dramatically as his entire composure switched. His breathing quickly grew heavier, and eyes slowly closed as he continued where he left off - “‘ _Oh daddy_ ’?” The second use of the phrase came alongside a deeper, huskier voice and his left hand running through the tangle of hair at the top of his head.

Of course, if the show hadn’t caused problems for him, Minghao was there to pick up the pieces. He shouldn’t have expected any different.

Oh, how he'd wished that he could have been swallowed up by the sofa or something, that he could have laughed it off completely and pretended that it was a funny joke, but the damage had already been done. Minghao's eyes snapped open again before he had the chance to cross his legs and hide it, and suddenly the grin on his face was replaced with a look of complete horror.

Fuck.

If the sofa was going to swallow him up, now was definitely the time for it to happen. They were sat in complete silence, other than the episode playing in the background. 0 to 100 really quickly, and not in a good way. The atmosphere in the room was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife, and frankly the longer they sat in silence, the more it felt as if the room was suffocating him.

"Did I cause this to happen?" Minghao eventually asked in Mandarin when the pause was almost unbearable. He looked particularly uncomfortable, as if he was already blaming himself regardless of what the answer was going to be. Junhui had no words all of a sudden; his mouth had gone completely dry, and every piece of vocabulary that he had ever learnt had become a jumble of syllables with no meaning whatsoever. He finally gave a silent nod, and Minghao let out an exasperated sigh as he ran a hand through his hair again. "I'm really sorry for putting you in this position. Should we continue watching?"

That was it. No comment on the situation, no questioning. Junhui nodded again as he turned back towards the screen, and they continued watching for a while as if nothing had happened. To a degree, he had hoped that Minghao had asked him, so that perhaps he could have found the words to explain himself, but he was also glad that there wasn't a big fuss made. It felt as if the tension was still there to a degree, but nowhere near as much as it could have been. It gradually started to calm down a bit as Minghao relaxed back against the sofa, and eventually Junhui felt his problem deflate to the point where he could safely uncross his leg again. 

It took a solid few episodes for them to talk again, and instantly Junhui regretted hoping that the topic would come up again. It was clear that the younger boy was trying to be casual in the way that he asked, but it came out in a way that was far from it. "So, do you like being called 'daddy' in bed?" Minghao asked in a voice that was a lot smaller than Junhui was used to from him. He gave a nod again, this time trying to force a smile in order to seem more approachable about it. "Are you comfortable with talking about it? When did it start?"

“About… three years ago,” Junhui forced as he turned his head to avoid any chance of making eye contact.  
“And since I’m guessing you haven’t had a relationship in that time,” Minghao mused quietly to himself, before turning his attention back to the older boy, “I don’t suppose any of the other guys have acted it out with you, have they?”  
“That’s a bit personal,” he replied through gritted teeth, trying harder than anything not to come across as too uncomfortable but failing miserably in the process. Sex wasn’t something he liked to talk about a massive amount, especially not when it came to discussing it with regards to his sexual orientation. Thankfully, Minghao hadn’t brought sexuality into it so far, but at the same time, it was clear that he was aware of it to a degree, and that alone was unnerving.

Silence again. He didn’t even attempt to apologise, but rather stared at the side of his head with a curiosity that urged Junhui to turn back to face him and continue. With a sigh, he lifted a hand to rub at his forehead, before promptly continuing. “I haven’t had sex with any of the other guys here.”  
“Would you like to?” Minghao followed without missing a beat, leaving Junhui in complete shock for a moment, although considering the nature of the conversation, he wasn’t sure that he should have been all too surprised. Of course it was going to be heading in that direction next.

“I haven’t really considered it.” Minghao looked as if he was barely paying attention as his eyes appeared to instead be assessing his friend’s features, gradually moving down his face. He shuffled a few inches closer with the same hint of curiosity in his eyes, and pressed one of his hands to Junhui's wrist. The older boy flickered between the hand and his friend's eyes, in a way that was probably coming across as incredibly judgement. Minghao either didn't notice or didn't care, as he made a special effort to move his hand down to wrap around the nearest one of Junhui's.

He looked embarrassed for a moment; an expression that Junhui had never really seen on his friend's face all too often. A shy smile, the slightest pink tone swept across his cheeks, and he gave a gentle squeeze to the top of Junhui's hand. "I feel bad sometimes, because I like getting affection from everyone, but sometimes I'd like more," he explained as calmly as he could manage, although clearly the anxiety of the situation was starting to eat away at him, "But... but... this is sort of giving me the confidence to ask if you'd consider something?"  
"What, a relationship?" Junhui blurted out without taking the time to think about what he had said. Fuck it, he messed up again, if the shock on Minghao's face was anything to go by. The only way forward was to pedal backwards, and hard. "... because I don't know whether I'm interested in you in a romantic sense, at least not at the moment."

"N-no, I meant more like meaningless sex, where you get to act out your fantasies, and I get attention. Call it 'friends with benefits', if you will. We can even do a quick trial now, if you want, whilst everyone else is out." Junhui swallowed hard. The idea was tempting, especially considering that he often got the urge to be affectionate with the other members of the group but sometimes worried about overwhelming them. Perhaps this would mean letting go of those feelings when they came up, since he would have somewhere to place them?  
"Sure, we can try it," he said after almost too long, and the growing look of concern on Minghao's face quickly washed away. He shuffled a bit closer so that their thighs were almost touching.

"Alright, how are we gonna get this started, then? Do we just sort of... get naked and do it or something?" Junhui asked immediately.  
Minghao mused for a moment, before turning his eyes back to his friend. He seemed strangely excited by his idea, and it left Junhui with a tingle of anxiety.

“Can I… kiss you?” Praise upon whatever gave Minghao the confidence to ask; Junhui would have rather hack off his arm with a butter knife than make the first move. It seemed to be a decent place to start in order to see if it would be too awkward to take things further; something sweet and innocent. He tried to be confident, but these sorts of situations were enough to completely strip that away from him. He nodded once, already anticipating that his voice would fail him if he tried to say the word out loud, and suddenly time slowed as Minghao closed his eyes and moved in. He looked so nervous, yet so beautiful; short dark eyelashes rested delicately on his slightly sandy complexion, and in that moment, Junhui found himself able to appreciate the beauty in his friend’s face properly. 

He had a thin face with well proportioned features, and whilst his eyes attracted the most attention when they were open, his lips were leading the show right now. Not just because of the upcoming kiss, but also with their shape. His upper lip was smooth without any sharp pinches around his philtrum, whilst his lower lip pinched in at the corners and was a lot plumper around the middle. For the first time, Junhui wanted nothing more than to feel those lips against his own. He hadn’t really considered how it would feel to be kissing anyone from the group before, but the closer Minghao got to him, the more he longed to know the little things, like how much pressure he would put into the kiss, how long it would last, and how his heart would feel in his chest as they made contact. 

Minghao’s tongue slipped out to dampen naturally rouge lips as he moved in closer, and one eye opened ever so slightly to check how much distance was left between them once they were within inches of each other. Junhui snapped his eyes closed, hoping more than anything that this wasn’t going to be something that would bite him in the ass later. The closer they got, the more Junhui’s senses were taken over by the scent of his skin. He found himself somehow able to differentiate the selection of mismatched scents that clung to his skin and hair; the slightest hint of a delicately perfumed soap, that lotus and jasmine shampoo they everyone wanted gone, some sort of antiperspirant or cologne with a musty smell, and the scent of clean laundry. 

The anticipation near enough killed him, and it took every bit of strength not to ruin the moment by opening his eyes, but soon enough the contact was made, and he felt their lips melt together instantly.

It was everything he didn’t know he needed. After years of not feeling the warmth of someone else’s lips against his own, he didn’t really care for who it was with, as long as it felt good. This one did. No fireworks shooting off in his head, or instant spark, though - that was too cliche and unrealistic in his opinion. It was more of a tingling sensation, right from the base of his spine and all the way up, moving through his arms and legs and head as he took Minghao’s lower lip between his own. The younger boy let out a grunt as he did so, shuffling closer in order to gain much-needed attention, and Junhui quickly moved a hand back to rest upon his waist.

His lips parted ever so slightly, and Minghao was quick to take the liberty of flashing his tongue between their lips. It was colder than he had expected, considering how warm his lips and breath were, but pleasant nonetheless. He slipped his own by an inch or so, managing to catch the cool, damp muscle in the process, but they both quickly retracted as soon as the contact was made. Now he was faced with the nervous, blushing face of Minghao, who looked as if he had just seen a ghost or something. "I hope that wasn't too bad," he thought out loud, and Junhui was quick to grab his chin to bring his attention back to the moment that they were in.  
"It was nice. Great, in fact. Don't overthink it. Just think about what we're doing here and now." One more gentle peck on the lips. It was sweet and innocent and gave him that little tingle that he had felt the first time.

"I won't," Minghao whispered as his eyes darted towards the nearest clock, "But maybe we should hurry up with the here and now before someone gets home. You know they'll be coming back as soon as it starts to get dark."  
That was enough to encourage Junhui to get everything moving. He grabbed for his friend's hand and promptly stood, pulling him off the sofa and in the general direction of the bedroom. "Where's the fire, daddy?" Minghao laughed in response to the sudden desperation, oh so casually and smoothly as if it was a name he had used for years, and somehow being caught off guard with that word made it sound all that bit sweeter.

Daddy.  
There was probably going to be a point in which he deeply regretted letting Minghao in on his little secret kink, but for now he couldn't be any more glad that he was able to share it with someone who could slip the word in with no difficulty whatsoever.

Junhui thanked every deity that existed that there was no one else home. 0 to 100 again; he had completely lost control in that moment. Their lips crashed again as he pinned Minghao to the wall with his own body, and the younger boy's fingers quickly found their way underneath his shirt, ghosting over the bare flesh underneath in a way that left little prickles where their skin made contact. In one swift motion, the shirt was pulled up and over his head, and once the gap between them became available, Minghao ducked past his arm and made a dash for the bedroom. Junhui was quick to follow him with the discarded fabric in hand, getting there just as Minghao tried to shut the door on him, and promptly jammed himself between between the wood and frame. A bit of squirming was enough to get him into the room; once he was safely inside, Minghao's eyes flickered with an element of excitement. "What are you gonna do to me, daddy? Was I bad for trying to crush you?"

He was instantly pinned again as hands found their way down towards his trousers and wrestled with the button. This time he made sure to press his weight forward through his shoulder in order to keep the younger boy in place, but he remained still with no struggle whatsoever, his chest rising and falling hard with each breath. The fly was tugged down with a desperation that Junhui hadn’t expected from himself, then he promptly moved his hands back to cup his partner’s arse. Minghao let out a surprised squeak at the roughness of the grope, pressing his body forwards a little. It wasn’t the biggest arse that he had felt on another guy, but it was soft nonetheless, and gave something pleasant for him to hold onto. Minghao pressed his face into Junhui’s neck in a vain attempt to mask a string of moans as he began to grope hard, but naturally each was definitely louder than what he was hoping for.

A quick scoop under and upwards was enough to lift the smaller boy off the floor, and he instinctively wrapped his legs around Junhui’s waist. Their lips met again as they moved to the bed, and was maintained with ease as Minghao was lowered delicately onto the mattress. Kisses were broken momentarily whilst Minghao's layered shirts were pulled up and over his head, but were quickly resumed as hands moved back down towards trousers. Both layers were pulled off his hips in one smooth motion, and once they were off, Minghao made a special effort to keep their bodies pressed as close as possible. His hands ran over Junhui's bare chest, nails scratching here and there, before he too went in for the prize by searching for the button and fly of his trousers. Quite impatiently, the remaining layers were wrestled off, and the kiss was finally broken as the older boy rocked back to gaze into his partner's eyes.

Their sex was gentler than how the game had started. A plucked virginity, litters of neck kisses, heavy moans, and gentle rocking of bodies. 'Romantic' wasn't the appropriate word to describe it, since it was a self-proclaimed Friends With Benefits situation, but it was as close as they could get to romance. Junhui was definitely gentler than he had imagined himself being with Minghao, but seeing him sprawled out on the bed, breathing a mixture of 'Jun' and 'daddy' into the empty air of the bedroom was more than enough for him for the first time. It hurt, and he was well aware of that, although his partner naturally pretended through tears that it was nothing. No amount of stretching or lube had completely gotten rid of the pain, though he was doing rather well to last so far. A mix of pain and pleasure, matched with tear-stained cheeks and begging to continue.

Junhui was impressed by how often _that_ word left his partner's lips. Not enough to exhaust it, but a considerable amount of perfectly timed instructions and praises including that word. He was Minghao's daddy now, at least for the moment; each time it was dropped he felt it more and more. It sounded like second nature coming from the younger boy, as if he had used it hundreds of times before, and honestly it sounded amazing in his voice. It wasn't quite everything that was involved in his kink, but it was an amazing start nonetheless and he was loving it.

Shaking thighs and heaving chests; the magic word was barely making it past Minghao's lips after just a few minutes. It would be a filthy lie to pretend that Junhui was doing much better, though. Countless months had passed since the last time, and this was almost certain to be a quick thing all in all. It was surprising how long Minghao managed to put out, considering that it was his first time and he was counterbalancing the dull pain of the sex with frantic masturbation. A full ten minutes passed before the first signs of his climax. His breath grew shallow and hand motions weaker as he tried to bring himself to his peak, with all of his concentration fully on that, and finally the milky fluid pooled on his lower stomach, signifying his finish. It was silent, other than the huge, shaky breath as he realised that he had been holding his breath during the final stretch, and he immediately relaxed under his partner's touch.

There was barely any time between their climaxes at all. A minute or two at most. Junhui held the limp body of his partner as close as possible as he built up over the final hurdle. Should he pull out? The question seemed to fall upon deaf ears, but as he moved to do so, legs and arms scrambled desperately to pull him closer again. "No no no, daddy, please! Inside!" The words were just as panicked and rushed, and were ever so slightly slurred from exhaustion. If anything, it was that moment of desperation that brought him over the edge, and he saw white flashes for a moment as it finally hit.

Junhui was slow to pull out, despite the continued protests. As much as he wanted to stay in, it would hurt later down the line, and he was sure that there would be plenty more opportunities to do so in the future. "We should nap before everyone gets back," he announced, but it was only himself now as Minghao had already given in to the wave of fatigue. Surely everyone getting back would be loud enough to wake them up, he figured, but he pulled some nearby bath towels over them, followed by the duvet for good measure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter done! I'm trying not to focus too heavily on the sexual stuff this time, with the plotline being the priority. Although the rating is subject to change because I'm probably going to have come up with more headcanons for these dorks and adapt them into it. We're probably expecting around four or five chapters in total so far, with a gradually increasing level of daddy kink (it's a little bit of a weakness I have honestly), with calling him 'daddy' in bed as the lowest, and finally a straight-out dd/lb relationship after a few chapters. Or in the next chapter, depending on how I'm feeling and whether it's seem like more of a filler. Also, I'm open to inserting any of your ideas, given that they don't clash with anything that I'm already putting in, so feel free to send ideas, theories, headcanons, etc. and we'll see if they can be added here and there.
> 
> Anyway, I have assignments to do for the moment, so it might take a while to write (given that this was all going to be one chapter, until I realised that it's already almost 4000 words with a handful of things not even touched on yet), but whenever there's the space and time, we'll be straight onto finishing this!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Excuses and Sweet Things

"Daddy, can I wear this hoodie of yours?"  
Junhui looked up from his book to see Minghao at the foot of his bed, holding up a particularly baggy zip up hoodie that he had barely worn since they debuted. Not anything fancy; plain red with white detailing here and there, and not even obviously his. It could have been anyone's, and since no one would be prepared to ask where he got it from, it worked perfectly for covering up their relationship. The hoodie itself was something that he used to use for lounging around when he still lived with his parents, but never really wore outside. It was comfortable to wear, but now that his friend was planning on wearing it, he figured that it would spare them of questions if he simply handed it over as a gift. The nod of confirmation resulted in one of the brightest smiles that he had seen on his friend's face that week, although it was probably exaggerated for effect. An excited cheek kiss followed, and although the gesture seemed to be rather unnecessary in Junhui's opinion, it also fit perfectly with the evolving cutesy aesthetic that Minghao was starting to adopt.

It had been a month since they had decided to start their Friends With Benefits relationship, and a lot had changed in that time. To start out with, Minghao was starting to slip the word 'daddy' into daily conversation a lot more, although it was always in Mandarin in order to avoid as many prying ears as possible, and it wasn't always intended in a sexual manner. It wasn't the most subtle word in Mandarin, but when it was used in sentences, he was somehow able to expertly wedge it between other words in order to disguise it a bit. There were also far more affectionate cuddles and watching videos together nowadays once the others from the group were gone, but it rarely resulted in sex; rather, for the most part, they would both try to make the most out of the alone time using bonding exercises where possible. On top of that, Junhui was quickly adapting to becoming Minghao's daddy in ways that could have never imagined prior to this. There was a huge difference between his friend using the term casually as they went about their days and when he used it in the bedroom, and honestly it was getting easier for his body to have the appropriate reactions in the appropriate situations as time went on. Very few awkward erections from merely the use of the word, although along with that came his friend's repeated attempts at cause such reactions when he didn't get his own way.

Contrarily, the relationship itself was getting a lot more complex, even though they were getting more comfortable around each other. Junhui had no idea how they had gone from using the word exclusively in the bedroom to using it as a sort of pet name, but he strangely didn't have any complaints about it. Perhaps it was just comforting to know that was more of a role for him now, as opposed to some sort of sexual position of power, but the more relaxed he was around the word, the more Minghao used it. It was even getting to the point where he would slip the Mandarin word into random Korean sentences as not to irk the rest of the group with constant private chatting in their native tongue.

"Look at me, daddy! Am I cute?" Minghao called after just a moment, and Junhui was quick to draw his eyes back away from the book to do as was requested. Despite it being a size too large on him, the hoodie complimented the casual flair of his striped t-shirt and jeans, and he rather liked how it looked on the smaller build, compared to on himself. Minghao made a point of spinning on spot once to showcase his clothing, with what was possibly the most goofy smile the older boy had seen plastered on his face.  
"You look handsome," he stated simply with a fond smile, and Minghao promptly gave a hum of approval before making his way back out of the room in his new attire.

His eyes wandered back down once his friend left the room again. He figured that it wouldn't hurt to finish off the chapter of his book before going out to meet everyone else in the main room, especially since there were only a few pages left to read. After all, he had been ready to leave for quite a while, but some of the group were dragging their feet as usual. It was a common occurence when they all needed to go out for whatever reason; there would be the few who would actually be ready to leave well before they needed to be, those put off getting ready until the last minute, the ones who would start getting ready early but still end up being some of the last to get in there, and finally Jeonghan and Seungcheol who were often left flustered and trying to make sure that everyone had everything they needed before leaving the dorm. Naturally he was one of the ones to make sure that he was ready before everyone else, and Minghao was one of the few to start getting ready five minutes before they were due to leave.

The book was carefully placed back under his pillow once the final few pages had been read, and he made his way in to where the rest of the group were with absolutely no sense of urgency. As expected, Seungcheol was gathering the stragglers, whilst Jeonghan was checking that everyone else was there and ready to leave. Wonwoo and Jisoo in particular looked unimpressed and bored respectively, which was understandable considering that they had arranged to leave around ten minutes ago and they had probably been waiting for well over a half hour by this point. Junhui mentally congratulated himself on his ability to predict the situation, although those who had been waiting seemed moderately unimpressed by how late he was.

Finally they were able to leave as the last members came to join the main group, and a weight was lifted from the group from the moment they walked through the door.

Full group outings weren't all too common for this reason primarily, but since it was Seungkwan's birthday, they figured that it was a suitable time to go out to eat. After all, there needed to be some excuse for breaking their usual dietry and training habits, and this one worked rather well as far as they were all concerned. A day of little movement followed by a huge dinner; exactly what they didn't need so soon before that year's tour season, but well deserved after all of the effort they had put in nonetheless. They would probably end up doing extra work over the days that followed, but frankly that was inevitably going to happen anyway with the amount of concerts that they needed to prepare for.

Everyone crammed into the car, they had a noisy trip out of town to a random restaurant, and finally they were back out of the car and into the open air. It was a relief to finally leave the clammy air of the car behind for an hour or two, as far as Junhui was concerned; as much as he loved the group, there was still something uncomfortable about being tightly packed into a vehicle whilst everyone was singing and rocking from side to side and generally acting like school kids. They spread out once they were out in the open finally, and it was a breath of relief until they made their way into the restaurant.

It was a relatively small restaurant; one that they hadn't been to before but had passed a few times on their travels. They had had to book in advance due to the huge number of them, so their tables were available at the back as soon as they entered, and luckily it was out of the way of most other groups, so their chances of being swarmed for photos or anything was smaller than if they were to go to their usual favourite places. "Try not to eat too much. We have to stay fit for the performances," Seungcheol warned as they received their menus, "Try to limit it to one dish each, then maybe we get something sweet afterwards if anyone wants it. And remember that we're all paying in for Seungkwan's food today too."

Junhui was quick to pick out his dish; a simple chicken dish, since it was relatively cheap and the least likely to leave him bloated in comparison to the selection of heavier dishes on the list. He snapped his menu closed to signify that his decision was a particularly quick one, much to the dismay of some of his friends who had barely made it past the drink section. Minghao was included in the group who had barely started making their decisions, and he periodically let out little sighs as he found more and more items that took his fancy.

"I think I need help deciding," Minghao finally admitted in Korean, before reading out the list of around ten items that he was struggling to choose between. Considering the differences in tastes within the group, everyone was surprisingly helpful when it came down to narrowing down the list with him, and finally he settled on bibimbap. From the moment it was ordered to the moment it arrived, Minghao fidgeted in his seat and made a point of constantly asking how long it would be, and as draining as it was to see him being so impatient when no amount of squirming around would make it arrive any quicker, it was also strangely endearing to see how excited he was getting over the food.

Conversation died down completely once the food turned up at the table. They were the typical representation of "growing boys", despite the fact that the majority of them were in their twenties already; food was the main priority and no one was prepared to interrupt each other whilst they were eating. Even Minghao remained quiet as he focused entirely on his bibimbap, which made a huge change considering that for the most part nowadays, he was rarely ever quiet. It was always "daddy, can I have this?" or "daddy, can we do that?", all day every day.

Once everyone was finished with their main dishes, they were quick to move on to select sweet refreshments. After all, if they left it too long, there was a chance that it would be too late and they would end up missing out on it all. This was one of the only times where no one would dawdle.

As usual, Minghao barely needed to see the menu before ordering fish-shaped bread with a bean paste filling. It was one of his guilty pleasures when it came to Korean food, and was his top choice for sweet foods whenever it was available as an option. Junhui, on the other hand, opted for shaved ice, since it was relatively simple and probably wouldn't leave him feeling too stuffed before bed. Most of the group made their decisions relatively fast, and the conversation was particularly idle as they waited in anticipation for the food to arrive again. It was out of the kitchen within a few minutes, as expected, and so everyone hurried to get started on the snacks.

"I like that, daddy." Junhui glanced up from his shaved ice to see Minghao watching him with eyes like saucers.  
"I like it too, Minghao," he replied simply as he took another bite, "That's why I ordered it."  
"I like it too," he echoed, and after a pregnant pause and a sigh of defeat, Junhui offered up a spoonful. Minghao's face instantly lit up as he did so, and he was quick to eat the shaved ice from the spoon. The happiness on his face was something that Junhui wanted to see again and again, even if it did mean being forced to share his food; it was genuine and innocent, and Minghao was smiling as much with his eyes as he was with his mouth.

"Is that PDA that I can see?" Jeonghan called out from across the table. His face showed more entertainment from it than annoyance, especailly when both boys looked up from the food with matching looks of horror plastered on their faces. It was clear that he was joking, and a few of the other boys cracked smiles in response, but Junhui was certain that his and Minghao's smiles were delayed for just long enough to raise a red flag. They had both made a point of laughing along, but there was the slightest hint of a squint from Jeonghan when they seemingly took him seriously. He watched them for a while longer after the situation was diffused by the laughs, and Junhui would be lying if he said that he couldn't feel his face burning with embarrassment.

He made a point of withdrawing back into himself again so that he could finish his shaved ice in peace, until a small hand moved to touch his knee. "Do you think he knows, daddy?" Minghao asked quietly. His voice was laced with a fear that Junhui had never really heard from him before; there was a hint of concern in his tone, perhaps so that he could play it off if he was asked to explain what he'd said in Korean, but the genuine worry was there too. Admittedly, he was scared by it too; they couldn't really say that they were in a romantic relationship, seeing as everything they did was as friends, but at the same time they would probably end up being shunned by the rest of the group if they admitted that they were just sleeping together as a result of a little fetish that had come to surface.

Their relationship was something that wasn't really supposed to be spoken about out loud, and the mere thought of having to explain themselves left a lump in Junhui's throat.

"It'll be fine," he said. He wasn't prepared to lie and say that Jeonghan definitely hadn't caught on, since he was like the group's mother friend and could often tell who was going to end up dating before even they knew, but at the same time he wasn't the sort to pry in when it wasn't his place to do so. If he was suspicious, he would leave it until one of them went to him to talk about it, so their relationship was safe as long as they kept it on the down low.

Sweets were finished in a timely manner, and finally each individual part of the bill was paid before they left. It was surprisingly easy for Seungcheol and Jeonghan to herd the group back towards the car, considering how difficult it was to get them to leave the house, and after a quick head count they were ready for the journey home again.

"So are we pairing up for showers tonight?" Minghao asked in Korean, just to make sure that everyone was aware of his claim, and Junhui promptly responded with a quick nod. Nothing to raise suspicion; although there probably wouldn't be any raised eyebrows over an overly enthusiastic reply for the most part, he was certain that any added enthusiasm would only add to Jeonghan's earlier suspicions. Whilst it was all still very fresh, the last thing he wanted to do was make it obvious that they were involved with each other. Either way, everyone else simply continued with their conversations as if it hadn't been said, so presumably it wasn't going to be causing any issues with anyone else in the house.

It was a frequent occurence for them all to share showers, especially since time was short. Between thirteen of them and two bathrooms, it just wasn't practical for everyone to have their own invidual shower, plus it saved water if nothing else. Half the water, half the time. It was particularly important this time, since they were due to be leaving early for an all day dance practice in the morning, seeing as they had been slacking a little over the past few days, and so Seungcheol strongly recommended that they get showers out of the way that evening to avoid any unnecessary dawdling when they woke up. Of course, there would still be some people wasting as much time as possible, but it was a lot better than if they were all showering on top of trying to wrestle the slow few out of the house.

Everyone had their usual pairs; Seungkwan and Hansol, Wonwoo and Mingyu, Soonyoung and Seokmin, Jihoon and Chan, Seungcheol and Jeonghan. For the most part, Junhui, Minghao and Jisoo swapped between themselves, or occasionally with other random pairs if showers weren't running smoothly back on back, but surprisingly it was more favourable to have someone to share the shower as opposed to being alone. Perhaps it was like a bonding exercise of sorts, where everyone got to be more comfortable in their own skin and around each other, but it wasn't as if they actually made contact with each other in the process.

Although honestly, from the way that Minghao's hand was subtly creeping over to his thigh, it seemed that there would be more than a little contact this time. Junhui was so incredibly relieved that it was unlikely for them to be caught touching in that sort of way. First of all, the car was incredibly dark, secondly everyone was either distracted by bloating or singing along with the radio, and finally he was wearing dark trousers that made seeing where that hand was touching almost impossible. It was almost certainly a hint towards what Minghao wanted, seeing as it was painfully close to the discussion about showers, but considering how easy it was for them to play it off as if nothing had happened if they were to get intimate in the shower compared to if it was in one of the bedrooms, he found that he was rather onboard with the idea.

He flashed a warning glare in Minghao's direction nonetheless, but his friend actively avoided making eye contact as the hand moved up higher. He even dared to start talking to Seungkwan about his plans for his birthday weekend; whether he would be visiting his parents or spending it with them, and whether he was expecting any more presents from his family. The gentle grope to the front of his trousers was enough to earn a low warning grumble from Junhui, but he still dared to give a few extra squeezes before his hand was swatted away. Each was with intentional force, seemingly in hopes of getting him in the mood before they got home, and if he had continued any longer, his plan would have almost certainly succeeded. The smirk that was plastered on his lips was suggesting that he knew exactly what he had done, and that he was definitely getting away with it as usual.

Minghao was quickly becoming a little brat, and there wasn't much that Junhui could do about it.

Once they got back to the dorm, they made a point of putting off the shower for as long as possible, instead offering to help others out with any little dilemma that arose, or intentionally wasting time so that another pair would have to do in first, until it was finally just themselves and Jisoo left to clean themselves up. Subtle congratulations were passed between them for somehow managing to make it through unquestioned, and finally they made their way through to clean up before bed. Luckily everyone else was starting to go to bed at that point, so they weren't all too worried about being disturbed by anyone, but they still made sure to keep their voices down as best as possible.

Weirdly, the shower had started off completely innocent. They had started facing away from each other, washing hair and bodies completely separately, with the only conversation between them being a request for a comb from Minghao. It was only when most of the soap suds were washed off that Minghao decided to make his move.  
"Could you please make sure that my back has been rinsed off properly, daddy?" As he asked so politely, Junhui was more than happy to comply and check him over.

As usual, the task was a lot more complex than was necessary.

Minghao hadn't even attempted to wash the suds off his back for starters, meaning that Junhui was forced to completely wash him down with the showerhead. Then came the need for attention that Junhui had been expecting from the start. Before he could turn his back to his friend again, a small hand grabbed for his nearest wrist and held on tighter than necessary. "Maybe you should kiss my neck to prove that my skin is clean enough." A silly request with little standing, considering that Junhui had literally had his tongue pressed against an asshole just a week beforehand, but he went along with it nonetheless, pressing a few little kisses to Minghao's shoulder and upwards towards his jaw. The hand quickly moved to the side of his head to encourage him to continue, until finally the need to be held became much greater.

Minghao spun around on the spot so that they were facing each other, and moved in so that their naked bodies were pressed close. It sparked a slight anxiety in Junhui; although they had slept with eachother on a number of occasions, they hadn't really cuddled whilst nude before, since Minghao got cold rather quickly, and after all there was an inherent intimacy with being pressed against each other like that, which wasn't quite suitable for a friends with benefits relationship as far as he was concerned.

As usual, his friend was hesitant to lean up and kiss him. It was another thing that had an element of intimacy to it, although they had established early on that it was acceptable in sexual situations. Perhaps he was still somewhat nervous about initiating it all, considering that they weren't quite so far into things this time, but even so, it was something that would probably improve the more they did it. Hands moved to his shoulders, and he pressed his own to Minghao's hips as they both relaxed more into the kiss. It only took a moment or so for it to happen after the initial contact was made, but there was a huge difference between the comfort levels in those few seconds.

Only when they started to relax against each other did Minghao's hands finally start to wander, much to Junhui's excitement. Although he wouldn't dare admit it out loud, he much preferred it when his friend was the one to initiate the contact, since it proved to him that it wasn't just some one sided thing that he felt obliged to be a part of. First down his back, delicately brushing over the curve of his spine, followed by a rough arse squeeze that completely took Junhui by surprise, then moving back around and over his stomach, and finally resting on his chest. That was where Minghao drew from the kiss, so that he could watch his hands running over the soft skin of his partner's torso for a moment, before he finally decided what exactly he was looking to get out of this experience.

"Daddy, can I have your fingers?" There seemed to be a determination in Minghao's eyes, as if he really wanted this more than anything, "It's just because you haven't touched there in at least a week!"  
Junhui snorted as an involuntary smirk met his lips. "And by at least a week, you mean three days? Come on, Minghao."  
"It feels like longer," he protested, but of course he already knew from the way that Junhui's hand moved down to his arse that he would be getting his own way. The look of frustration on his face was faked, and washed away under the water of the shower as easily as the remaining soap suds on his chest.

It sure as hell wasn't going to be all that pleasant, considering that there was no lubricant other than perhaps the water, but sex had been so frequent between them over the past few weeks that it probably wasn't going to hurt Minghao too much to be touched with what little they had to work with. Junhui wrapped his left arm tightly around his partner's waist, drawing him closer in the process, then quickly moved the middle finger of his right hand to position at the entrance. "Are you sure you want this?"

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want it," he pointed out as he braced himself for the oncoming contact. It took a while for his finger to successfully penetrate the first few muscle rings, but once it did, he was quickly reaping in the rewards, in the form of heavier breaths and the soft skin of Minghao's face pressed into the curve of his neck. As much as he was trying to be gentle, though, it was proving to be difficult when Minghao's entrance was so adament that he wasn't supposed to be going upwards.

Minghao was surprisingly quiet as he was being penetrated. Perhaps a single finger wasn't really doing much for him just yet, or he was somehow managing to keep any noises choked back, but either way Junhui was rather impressed by it. The more he thrust the finger, the smoother the motion became, until he was able to comfortably add a second in alongside the first.

This time, Minghao let out a little hiss of pain and clenched around the finger. The friction probably hurt quite a lot, the older boy figured as he continued to move the fingers slowly whilst preparing himself for the chance that he would have to pull out completely in just a moment. "Build up the speed, please, daddy. I don't want it to sting anymore," he breathed; his voice sounded particularly strained, as if he was really struggling to get the words out through gritted teeth. Junhui complied as best as possible, hoping that the smoother motion would result in less sticking, and soon enough, Minghao's body started to relax against his. He wasn't as relaxed as he would have been if they had proper lubrication, obviously, but it was enough for them to comfortably continue.

He made a point of hooking the fingers as best as possible towards the front wall with a practiced precision that he'd been working on since they started sleeping together, and in an instant, all of the tension from Minghao's body drained away. No more worry about the pain of the friction, or any concern about being too loud; Junhui abused that same spot with his fingertips until his friend was a complete mess in front of him. It didn't take all too long, considering how painful it had been for him to start with, and once he came down from the high, Minghao seemed to be a lot more relaxed and sleepy-looking.

"Can I do something for daddy now?" It wasn't something that Junhui had been specifically looking to get out of it, but that puppy-eyed expression was creeping back onto Minghao's face again, and he seemed to be particularly determined to prove himself. The older boy wasn't the sort to shy away if he was that certain that he wanted to do something, especially when Minghao's own climax had knocked a great deal of strength out of him, and so he gave a simple nod to of encouragement.

He was met moments later with his friend's head moving between his thighs; as uncomfortable as it probably was, he was knelt with his legs tucked carefully underneath his arse, whilst his hands steadied his posture on the bottom of the tub. The only point of contact was his mouth, which was providing a powerful suction that left Junhui's legs feeling heavy. He was good with his mouth, always making sure to mix it up where possible in order to bring his partner to the edge as quickly as he could. Whilst they usually chose to draw it out as long as possible in order to feel each other for as long as they could, this was mostly to prevent them both from going to bed aroused, and so a five minute blowjob wasn't anything disappointing to finish off the night as far as Junhui was concerned. He had no idea how he managed to stay quiet throughout, but it served as a nice place to finish off for the night.

It didn't even need to be said tonight; they were sharing Junhui's bed. Thankfully the house was already quiet before their shower and it has only gotten quieter over the course of their time in the bathroom. Not that there would be any judgement, though, considering that everyone had shared a bed with everyone at least once in their time as idols. He was quick to carry the smaller boy through to his room and set him down on the bed as he searched for appropriate bed clothes, and settled for some fleece bed trousers and an oversized shirt. Surprisingly, but rather luckily, the room was still empty for the moment, allowing him to turn the light on whilst they got dressed. As always, the clothes that he gave Minghao were ones that he rarely wore, so even if they were to go for breakfast in what they slept in, their fellow dorm mates wouldn't be suspicious of the fact that Minghao was wearing more of Junhui's clothes lately than his own.

He helped to dry off Minghao's hair and body with a big towel, just to make him feel that little bit smaller, before getting him dressed into the fresh clothes. They easily drowned his tiny figure, especially around his waist, but if his smile was anything to go by, he really seemed to like the clothes that he was wearing. He made a point of lifting his arms so that they were shoulder level, just to show how big the shirt was on himself, and offered up a noise of approval once he was satisfied that it made him look small enough.

Without another word, Minghao made his way over to the bed, and promptly crawled in so that he was nearest to the wall. Junhui was soon to follow once he had located some of the softer bed trousers that he owned and the light was off, then pulled the duvet over both of them once he was close enough to avoid dragging it off his friend's body. Small shuffles followed as always, just to ensure that they were in comfortable enough positions to sleep through the night without disturbing each other.

Once they were safely cuddled under the duvet, Junhui could still feel that there was something left unsaid. A strange tension between them that left him sitting in silent anticipation for a while until it finally came. He stroked his friend's hair in hopes of encouraging it, and eventually Minghao made a point of clearing his throat to show that he was still awake and had something to say.

"Daddy, could I ask you something please?"  
"Of course," he whispered against his hair, rather glad that it had finally come out into the open.  
"What do you think about Minghao?" The sudden switch to third person threw him off a bit. He didn't register what had been said initially, and repeated it a few times over to make sense of it all, until finally it clicked that he was talking about himself and it wasn't a mistake. It was something that he had seen a few times before when he was researching his kink, where sometimes littles would make a point of trying to sound smaller, but this wasn't something that had even come up as something that either of them wanted to try just yet. 

Junhui sat up to stare at his partner with obvious confusion, one that Minghao could sense despite the darkness of the room, and suddenly the panic appeared to set in as he frantically attempted to backpedal again. It was strange to see how one little slip of the tongue was enough to spark so much alarm in him, especially since Junhui had almost overlooked it for a moment. His words were frantic and nonsense, a mix of both Mandarin and Korean as he tried to find the best words to explain what he had meant. It was an accident, he had stammered, a complete Freudian slip, and it was never going to happen again.

"Shhh shhh, no, baby boy, stop that silly talk right now," he scolded, and suddenly all of the rambling had stopped completely. If anything, he looked surprised that Junhui was seemingly playing along with it, but also somewhat wary as a result. Junhui wouldn't tell whether he was taking it to be a form of mocking, or whether he had suddenly caught his attention for positive reasons, but he chose to continue nonetheless. "Daddy thinks that Minghao is his handsome baby boy," he whispered, and the sudden excitement at the response was even audible in the slightest of changes to his breathing pattern. It was a little quicker and heavier than usual as he continued with the game with a quiet, "And what else?"

Junhui laughed at the reply, even though he knew he probably shouldn't have. He could sense the scowl in the dark room from the moment it passed his lips. Of course, the idea that he was being mocked had long passed, but there was something about being laughed at that left the smaller boy grumpy, whether he was feeling little or not. "Daddy thinks that Minghao has the best smile of anyone, ever. And his eyes are so big and round and pretty. And he gives the best snuggles that anyone could possibly give."

"Good." Minghao's body had relaxed completely, and he shuffled closer to Junhui's chest so that he could draw lazy patterns on the bare skin with a fingertip. The older boy was certain that he would be able to feel the hard thumping of his heart under that fingertip, but since he didn't say anything, Junhui wasn't prepared to bring it up.

"Can we sleep now daddy? Minghao is sleepy."  
"Of course," he breathed as he began to rock their bodies ever so slightly from side to side, and soon Minghao's body completely relaxed. A little hum of a song and it was enough to have him cuddling close again. As the focus remained on getting him to sleep, the smaller boy's face moved back to press into the warmth of Junhui's neck again, providing in return a face full of soft, jasmine scented hair. It wasn't as if Junhui minded, though; it was his smell and it was a reminder when he woke up that they had cuddled their way to sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was entirely procrastination from my assignment, which I should probably get done at some point, but the plans for this fanfic are destroying me since it takes a while to get it down but all of the main ideas are there and ready to go!
> 
> Anyway, I'm in the process of writing up around four other fanfics too so updates might be on a rotation, but hopefully it won't take too long for more updates here!
> 
> As usual, if there's anything suggestions, feel free to pop a message over and I'll see what I can do


	3. Ice Cream

"We've had an update on the programme for the opening concert," Seungcheol announced once everyone was inside the studio. "Don't worry about most of it; it's primarily what we've been practicing since before the new year. It's just this one addition that we have to think about. We're bringing back one of our old songs, so we all need to try to remember the dance as best as possible. Not too much work, though; it should just take this session to get it perfected again." He passed the slip of paper with the details around the group so that they could see for themselves which dance was being added, giving that slight element of surprise just to make their already tiring early morning practice that little bit more draining, and stood back to watch their expressions as they each in turn noticed the change to the list. 

There was a quiet noise of protest from a few members. Although they would all still remember a lot of the dance, it wasn't necessarily something that they had made an active effort to keep fresh over the years. The main issue for the moment was going to be that getting back in sychronisation with the rest of the group was something that often took a fair bit of time, and it was relatively frustrating to know that they had once had the timings completely spot on, only to have to get back up to that standard again over a few days. Yet, there wasn't all too much that they could actually do about it, since frankly the decision was final and they were the ones to suggest maybe bringing something old back in the first place, so they all simply moved around the room trying to recall where their original dance positions were. There was a bit of stumbling to start with, as those in the centre managed to find their positions with no problem, but those around the outside tried to find where they were supposed to be in comparison to everyone else. 

It was mid February already, so there wasn't too much time for them to be able to perfect the dance again, but considering that they had managed to get everything else perfected over the past few weeks, this particular one could get the vast majority of their attention. They had been working hard to make sure that this year was their best yet with both vocals and dancing, and it had paid off so far. Luckily with the additional song being something old that they had already done, everyone would probably end up remembering different parts of the dance, plus they already had several recordings of how it should look just in case there were parts that fell through.

The first run through wasn't amazing to start out with, but they quickly found that they remembered a fair bit of the dance between them. If anything, no one was trying particularly hard to make it perfect when they knew that it was mostly trying to recall what they were supposed to be doing at any point, as opposed to making their first try outstanding. A quick watch of the recording was enough to spark memories of what everyone had missed or done incorrectly again, and a few more attempts were sufficient to get the ball rolling and most of the dance up to an average standard again. They were all rather happy to see that they still had most of it there; it may not have been one of their more complex songs, but naturally fitting the exact cues of the song again was going to be the biggest issue during this practice session. It was something that they had anticipated really, and were all prepared to have to work on.

"The best option at the moment is probably to pair up and watch each other compared to the video, then give pointers if your partner isn't getting their timing right." Seungcheol made the decisions for who was going to pair up, but generally stuck to close friends as expected. After all, certain members of the group were more likely to be able to help those whose parts they interacted or were more familiar with, so it made sense for them to be working together. He was rather fair like that, as much as he wanted everyone to work; although he already probably had it figured out who would work well in certain pairs and who would end up standing around for most of the practice session, then planned accordingly.

Junhui knew from the start that he had his timing rather well. There were still parts that he messed up with here and there, but for the most part he was rather accurate. It was the one thing that he was able to pride himself on for this particular dance, since a few of the group members were struggling with that alone. On top of that, he hadn't quite expected to be able to remember how the dance went, so he had surprised himself when he had gotten the first half running smoothly within the first two trials, and a lot of the second half sorted by the time their group practice was over. Of course, though, he had to be paired with Minghao, who had also picked it up again relatively easily, but wasn't always the best to work with for paired practice. Sometimes he would be a bit too critical, and other times he struggled to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

This time, he seemed to be more on the critical side. Junhui had made a point of starting to run through the second half of the dance again before his friend made it to his side. "You messed up that bit of the dance," Minghao called out as he walked over, "What you wanna do is-- Wait, would you prefer it if I switched to Mandarin to explain? It might be easier." Junhui knew from the moment his partner suggested speaking in Mandarin that he wasn’t going to be discussing the dance, and it was confirmed when glimmer of playfulness flashed in his eyes. That look left Junhui’s stomach in knots; he was particularly tired today and didn't know how much of his bratty friend he could be dealing with without making the nature of their relationship obvious to everyone else in the group. 

"You're not moving fast enough as you're dancing at times, and it's making the next move look rushed instead of fluid. That's the main issue for you." He leant in closer, just in case someone was able to pick up on anything from what he was saying, and offered a cute smile as he spoke. His voice had dropped down low, but still had that hint of sweetness that was starting to grow on the older boy lately. A sure sign that the topic of conversation was going to move on pretty fast. "Now something more important; Daddy, Minghao wants ice cream. You should buy him some."

“What?” That one caught Junhui off guard. If anything, he had been mentally prepared for something sexual to come from Minghao; whilst they had been trying to keep all aspects of the kink to the bedroom, the occasional bit of obscenity was prone to slipping out when they were speaking to each other in Mandarin, but other than when he was tired, Minghao rarely tried to come across as cute. It wasn't really his style, after all. It was also risky; luckily nowadays the risk of awkward erections was incredibly low, but occasionally Minghao was starting to push it to the point where no amount of trying to distract himself was enough to prevent it from happening. This time, he was edging dangerously close, too, by puffing out his cheeks whilst scowling. It probably the cutest that Junhui had seen him acting so far, and it left his chest feeling tight. If nothing else, he wanted to pick him up and tell him how handsome he was, but naturally since they were working, he was having to exercise as much self restraint as possible.  
“Ice cream. Minghao wants it.”

"I don't think you deserve ice cream if you're not even going to ask for it nicely."  
"Well, I want it, and Daddy is gonna get it for me."  
Before he could respond again, Soonyoung called out from across the room and made his way over towards them. He didn't look all too thrilled to have to stop his work with Seokmin to go over to them, especially seeing as he obviously had his own work to be doing, but nevertheless he put on a smile and seemed to be happy to be around them. Minghao let out an exasperated sigh as he hurriedly tossed some more little dance pointers in his partner’s direction, in order to make it seem as if they were doing something other than standing around, before promptly spinning back to face their friend. “Is everything okay?” he then asked in Korean, and Soonyoung was quick to nod. 

"Yeah, Seungcheol just asked if I could watch you two for a moment and see if you've made much progress just yet." They had barely had enough time for one practice run through Junhui's part before Seungcheol was on their backs; apparently he was absolutely serious about getting this one polished as quickly as possible so that they could focus on the performance as a whole. Although there wasn't all too much of a discussion between them so far, surely they didn't seem as if they were being too idle just yet. Perhaps he had them figured out, and was well aware of the fact that switching to Mandarin was often a sign that they weren't quite on task as much as they should be.

"We'll let you watch and see if we're in time," Minghao offered, and honestly Junhui was relieved that they were both already decent on their timing. It was just the occasional move that wasn't snappy enough, or was mixed up with that of a later part of the song. At least this was going to make it seem as if they were actually being productive, he figured, so that they could have more time to work on the dance independently again without any worry about minding their conversation again. Of course, Soonyoung agreed to do so, probably in hopes that it would be good enough for him to get back to work again, and moved backwards enough to give them space to show him.

The result was perfection in the first half, but rather sloppy in the second. Minghao had forgotten some of the moves completely, whilst Junhui's had occasionally been mirrored and ended up with a few close calls in which he almost ended up hitting his partner in the face. It was still an improvement on what they had been working with before, though; Junhui had made sure to make his movements more fluid, as suggested to him, and what Minghao did remember was always snappy enough to work well with his partner. Although there had been no pointers given to the younger boy just yet, they had both figured out from trying the dance together what worked and what didn't. Either way, though, Soonyoung seemed to be relatively impressed with their progress so far, and made sure to give a few words of encouragement before moving back to work with Seokmin again.

"Okay, we're going to focus for a little while, baby." It was a statement, not a question, just to show Minghao that he meant business now. Despite letting out a grumble of disapproval, he did as he was told this time. They managed to do one more run through without almost bumping into each other again, as they managed to arrange a few more accurate steps in the progress, and a second attempt left a good seventy percent of the dance looking good for them both, with each subsequent run through only helping them to improve more. In the end, it was mostly the same part each time that needed extra practice, but they figured that that would come easier with the entire group interacting together. It was the same part that they had struggled on back when they had started learning the dance, so they figured that it would simply have to become the focus of the practice from then on.

Finally once it seemed like they had made sufficient progress, Minghao brushed his friend's hand with his own and offered that little smile again. “Daddy, Minghao is going to scream if you don’t buy him ice cream after practice.” The expression decidedly didn't quite fit the words. Junhui wasn't quite in the mood for this conversation right now, especially after around a half hour of making decent progress with their work.  
“Well, Daddy is going to have to smack your thigh for being a little brat if you keep it up.”  
Minghao’s eyes sparked with excitement, as if he was daring him to go ahead. It wasn't something that Junhui would usually suggest, and his voice came out stuttering and weak as he made the suggestion, instead of dominating and assertive as he had intended.

“Daddy would never smack Minghao in front of his friends.” The smirk that followed was knowing. Junhui stood in stunned silence for a moment as he tried to figure out what he should respond with, but of course Minghao already knew that he had won. The hesitation to answer was a sure sign that he wasn't going to follow the threat through. Obviously Junhui didn't have the guts to hit him in front of anyone, and had Minghao not already explicitly told him a few days earlier that he wanted spanking to be part of his punishment, Junhui wouldn't have even considered laying a hand on him whatsoever. The words were definitely empty.

The smirk only grew when he knew that he was getting his own way. Junhui’s cheeks burning as he turned away and trotted over to Soonyoung. Both arms wrapped around one of his, and Minghao bent slightly at the waist as he pressed his cheek against his friend’s shoulder, before promptly starting to babble in Korean about how excited he was for the upcoming shows, with the occasional subtle reminder of exactly how hard he had been working over the past hour or so to make the dance really great. They had a little back and forth for a while, with Soonyoung occasionally turning to flash a grin at Minghao, and the younger boy giving him an innocent doe-eyed look that proved in itself that he was after something. It wasn't a look he usually went for, but rather a very specific expression that he sometimes used when he really wanted something.

"You know you love me a lot, right?" he finally said, cutting straight to what he had been planning to say the whole time. Soonyoung laughed as he nodded in agreement, then gave Minghao's hair a little ruffle. He had apparently fallen straight for the faked sweetness, having not realised how much of a brat Minghao was being, but it was as expected really.  
"Of course I love you, what's up?"  
"Do you love me enough to get me ice cream after practice? Seeing as I've tried really hard today?"

Junhui could feel his throat getting dry. Of course this was where he was going with it. If Minhao didn't get the ice cream out of him, he would definitely try getting it out of someone else. He turned his head over on Soonyoung's shoulder so that he was facing Junhui again, and flashed him the innocent smile again to show that he knew exactly what he was doing. The eye contact they made was fiery on both parts, despite Minghao's attempt at looking pure. There was a sudden tension between them, and Junhui's flush was starting to work its way outwards towards his ears and neck. He didn't want to feel so strongly over something so petty, but the way that his friend was intentionally trying to get him worked up was starting to come into play.

"I can treat you to ice cream!" Soonyoung agreed. After all, he really did love Minghao a lot, so it was rather normal that he would be willing to try to make him happy where possible. Junhui couldn't really blame him if he was honest. The current situation between himself and Minghao wasn't something that Soonyoung was aware of, and he was certain that if he had asked instead, the response would have been the exact same. That was just their friend's personality, especially around the two of them.

It was mostly the smug look that suddenly appeared on Minghao's face that was causing issues for him. As soon as he had what he wanted, the innocence had completely been dropped, and was instead replaced with a look of complete dominance as he proved that he was getting everything in one way or another, even if it didn't work first time. This was going to be the thing that made him snap; Junhui knew it right from the start. He mentally prepared himself as Minghao offered Soonyoung a really tight hug, making sure to take several long, deep breaths as he made his way back over in hopes of calming himself sufficiently. The shit eating smirk returned once his back was to Soonyoung, as he was definitely aware of the fact that his friend heard every last bit of the conversation, and exactly how it had ended in his favour.

“See Daddy? Soonyoung loves Minghao enough to buy him ice cream after practice. Maybe he can be Minghao’s new daddy.”  
As if his cheeks weren't already burning from embarrassment and hurt, Junhui could feel them stinging more than ever. He was usually rather relaxed, but for some reason, the suggestion had hit him had with a sudden and spontaneous fear. It wasn't like anything he'd ever felt before, and he had no idea of why he was feeling this way considering that their relationship was exclusively friends with benefits. He was probably just defensive of his title, he decided, since they had been in this situation for two months already, and they had grown a lot closer in the progress.

"Soonyoung might even be big enough to make Minghao feel all soft and warm inside, huh?"  
"Stop it please."  
"And really thick, too. Minghao likes it when his boys are thicker down there. Daddy, can you imagine it? Can you--"  
"I said stop it, Minghao."  
"-- imagine Minghao being treated to ice cream by a handsome boy, and then that handsome boy gets to use him as thanks?"

The thought made him feel sick, and he was certain that it was reflecting in his face, but at the same time, it was very clearly being ignored. "This is going too far," he warned, but his friend simply continued regardless.  
"I bet a pretty boy would kiss Minghao really softly on his mouth as his fingers pushed into him, too. Not like Daddy's really hard kisses."  
"That's enough, that's enough..." Junhui's attempts at trying to stop him were useless enough as it was, but he could feel each retaliation getting weaker and weaker as his partner ignored him each time.  
"I think when we get home, Minghao is gonna have to ask Soonyoung to make him feel good."

It was definitely jealousy at this point. Pure jealousy. It was the first time he had felt it come on this strongly, but there was absolutely no mistaking this feeling whatsoever. It was unclear as to why he was feeling it, but the thought of another guy, especially one of their friends, touching his partner made Junhui feel disgusting. Minghao wasn't exactly his to claim anyway, which made it worse since he had no place to tell him who he could or couldn't sleep with in all honesty, but it still hurt a lot regardless. "P-please stop it. Daddy... Daddy doesn't like hearing this." He was definitely pushing it to the brink this time.  
"Well, Daddy can't stop it from happening, because he doesn't even love Minghao enough to buy him ice cream!"

_Slap._

Junhui hadn't realised what he had done until he heard the sound of the hit echoing throughout the room. The sound was probably made worst by the tightness of his trousers on his thighs, but it was also a lot harder than he had originally intended. Minghao had jolted forward on impact, and immediately clapped his hands over his mouth as his eyes widened in shock. A red tint was starting to flush over his skin to match that on his partner's face, starting on his cheeks and spreading outwards until his entire face was scarlet, and little tears sprung to the inner corners of his eyes. Junhui swallowed the growing lump in his throat as he stared in horror over his own actions, but his eyes were quickly drawn down south, where the fabric of Minghao's jeans seemed to be particularly strained. Upon realising that it was too late to try to hide it, the younger boy closed his eyes and let the embarrassment completely wash over him as the story of his reaction was completely revealed to Junhui without any need for an explanation.

He had screwed up, and pretty badly at that.

"What just happened?" Seungcheol started making his way over, and Minghao genuinely looked as if he wanted to die on the spot. He stayed still for a moment as he tried to figure out what to do, before finally making a beeline for the toilets as Seungcheol almost got close enough to touch him. After a brief pause where he clearly didn't know what was happening or how to approach it, Seungcheol sighed and followed him towards the toilets to check that he was okay, whilst Jeonghan took his place in front of Junhui. Despite his expression generally being soft and warm, his eyes were questioning and urging him to speak. It wasn't a look that Jeonghan gave often; usually when someone was caught in a compromising situation that definitely required some form of explanation. It was the well-known 'mum friend' look, and quite frankly, it was intimidating.

"I think we should go outside and have a quick chat about this." There was absolutely no room for discussion. Junhui wasn't in the mood to argue over it even if Jeonghan had made it into a question. He simply gave a little nod and made his way towards the studio door, making sure to keep his eyes on the floor the whole time as not to accidentally catch the gaze of anyone else in the room. It was embarrassing to say the least, especially since all of the conversation in the room had stopped completely. The mood was suddenly incredibly tense, and it was all his fault for losing his temper for a fraction of a second.

Jeonghan closed the door after them, then moved to sit on the ground by the side of the door. Junhui copied, choosing to sit next to him rather than opposite as not to put himself in a position where they would definitely be forced to look at each other. "Is everything okay? I thought it was just you two messing around for a moment until I saw Minghao's reaction."  
"We were messing around but I took it too far and reacted without thinking," he admitted quietly. He was embarrassed, and it unfortunately seemed to reflect in his tone as Jeonghan gently squeezed his knee.  
"I think it's probably best for you to talk to him about it when you've both calmed down a bit. He's a good kid; I'm sure he'll understand that it was an accident. You're both good kids."

Jeonghan wasn't quite getting it, but Junhui wasn't exactly prepared to explain the whole situation. After all, it would be more embarrassing for Minghao if others were aware of the arousal that had came about as a result of the spanking. If he had known that his friend would have had such a reaction to it, he would have definitely restrained the reaction as much as physically possible. Granted, he had been pushing his luck a lot by suggesting replacing Junhui, but frankly it had been clear that he was just trying to get him worked up, and nothing he was saying was particularly meant to cause any upset or hurt.

Perhaps Junhui was getting to be a bit too sensitive lately. He had no idea why he was getting to be like this, maybe taking the role of Minghao's daddy a little bit too seriously for his own good, but it was something that he was definitely intending on stopping.

Since there was nothing left to say, they made their way back inside, and were greeted a few steps in by Seungcheol. "Minghao wants to speak to you really quickly in the toilets, please. He's still a bit embarrassed over what happened, but he doesn't really want to discuss it in front of everyone else." That was fair enough, he supposed. He offered the messenger a little smile of thanks, before making his way over to the toilets. All eyes were on him again as he walked through the studio, and his eyes remained on the floor yet again as not to have to see how anyone was responding to him.

It was unusually quiet inside. From the way that Minghao had run like that out of the main studio, he had assumed that he would be at least a little bit emotional in there. Maybe Seungcheol had seen the most part of it and had calmed him down before urging the older boy to check on him. "Baby boy," Junhui called out into the bathroom, and after a pregnant pause, the door of a cubical slowly creeped open. Exactly as Seungcheol had suggested, his face was flushed with embarrassment, and he could barely make eye contact as he walked over to his friend. The older boy naturally began to fuss over him a little; playing with his hair and straightening out his clothes as he stood pouting ever so slightly. It was mostly to busy himself if anything, as not to have to deal with the actual issue at hand, but his partner didn't seem to mind putting off talking about it.

"I'm sorry I took it too far," Minghao whispered, "I never wanted for you to be angry with me. Just a little more strict sometimes."  
"I'm not angry," Junhui corrected as he drew his friend in close for a hug, "Rather, I'm sorry for hitting you."  
"You're not angry? Even though I ended up making a big scene?"  
"Well, I doubt you expected to get hard from a slap on the thigh. Realistically."  
Of course he didn't. The younger boy smiled weakly in response as he dared to make eye contact for a moment, and Junhui pressed a firm kiss to his forehead just to enforce the point that he wasn't angry or upset at all.

There was a long pause as they stood in each other's embrace before he finally piped up again. "Do you know how hard it is to touch yourself aa you try to hold a full conversation? It's pretty damn difficult. I wanted him to go away but he was insistent that I was upset and needed help, and I couldn't really say to him, 'Please go away whilst I masturbate because my friend spanked me', could I?"  
That was enough to leave them both grinning. It had successfully taken the edge off what had happened and lightened the mood enough for them to both find the funny side in what had happened. As much as they loved their leader, he didn't always know when to comfort someone and when to give them time to themselves. In keeping up his firm dad-like attitude, he was sometimes a bit slow to register exactly what each member of the group needed, although none of them would ever complain about it, considering how much he did for the group.

The practice continued with little reference to the incident between the two of them, although it still occasionally seemed to be on the minds of everyone else. Eyes were on them constantly, checking to make sure that there wasn't any tension or the early signs of an argument brewing, but of course, there was nothing to worry about really. If they had anything negative to say to each other, they would have done it privately, since neither was really into causing drama in front of everyone else, and honestly the reactions seemed rather wary considering that they were having to interact whilst they were dancing, and that wouldn't really be going so smoothly if they hated each other. By the end of the session, most of the group had perfected the dance, and the few who needed the extra practice already had plans to do the last few touch ups before the main run through of the playlist the following day.

They were quick to clean up as usual, with there being thirteen of them to do the job, and managed to leave the studio within five minutes of finishing. It was only early afternoon by this point, seeing as they had started incredibly early in the morning and had been training almost all day every day for the past few weeks but everyone was still somewhat tired already. It was almost a given that at least three of the group would end up having a nap once they got back to their dorm.

"Would anyone mind if myself and Minghao had some alone time to talk, please? We'll catch you all up shortly," Junhui piped up when they were around halfway back to the dorm. Naturally, everyone understood and simply went ahead without another word. They weren't really prepared to argue with him or say anything, especially after what had happened in the practice room. Junhui made a point of taking Minghao's hand for a moment as they slowed down their walking, just to ensure that they were going to be sticking together instead of following the group, but promptly let go once everyone else was out of the way. It was a breath of relief to be away from their friends for the moment, even though they had had the few minutes to discuss their situation beforehand, and so they were free to take it as slowly as they wanted without anyone complaining at them finally.

"You know it's not something that we have to bring up again, right? As much as everyone else pressures us to talk about it, as if it's a big deal that hasn't already been sorted already." Minghao offered up an awkward smile, which suggested that he was already sick of how everyone else had made a big deal of it whilst he was out of the room. It hadn't been specifically spoken about as such, but the way that everyone was suddenly cautious around them was rather unnerving, it seemed.  
"That's not what I asked you to stay behind with me for, but I do agree. The moment has passed, and I'd rather keep it as a funny story for in a few years when everyone's almost forgotten about it." There was a hum of approval in response, followed by an expectant gaze over what the true reason for the private time was, since it had been mentioned and all.

"Now, what sort of ice cream does my baby want?"  
The shock on Minghao's face suggested that he hadn't expected Junhui to be ready to bring the whole daddy thing up again so soon after the incident in the studio, but he quickly composed himself and offered up a little smile that showed off the dimples by the corners of his lips. Although most of the faked sweetness was now dropped, since he was finally getting his own way, the true gratitude was starting to emerge now in place of it all. This was a better reflection of what Junhui was used to from his friend.  
"Can I get a Jaws ice cream please?"

Of course his ice cream choice was going to be childish now that he was starting to slip back into being little. It wasn't as if Junhui minded, though. It was something that he had rather liked when he first arrived in Korea, although he personally hadn't eaten ice cream in quite a while. Most of his food choices completely skipped fish-themed sweets nowadays, seeing as he was trying to seem more mature as an idol for the most part, although honestly it was rather nice that Minghao could seem like a mix of mature and playful regardless of how he held himself. Junhui made his way into the shop, located the ice cream for him, then paid for it, all with a sense of confidence in his actions.

Minghao seemed to be particularly happy with the ice cream, and happily began to lick it as they walked together. "I have some more questions for you, if that's okay," Junhui continued in Mandarin. A sensitive topic again, he decided; not something that they should really be discussing in public, but also not something that was great to be doing in the house either.  
"Go ahead." The hesitation left the air feeling thick. It was clear that Minghao felt it too, as he stopped licking at his ice cream for a moment to see whether his friend would continue, or whether he needed further encouragement.  
"Okay, how far does this kink go for you? I know we've been taking it further into more of a lifestyle lately, but what does it mean to you? Do you want soft, feminine things, like long socks, garters, shorts and cute graphic shirts? Do you want accessories or toys or anything? Or are you more comfortable with wearing my clothes, since you seem to have been doing that a lot more lately?"

He visibly thought about it for a while. It probably caught him off guard, if anything, but he seemed to be determined to answer between sucks on the shark ice cream. If nothing else, it gave him extra time to think about what he wanted to say. "I think I might like cute clothes, like those soft wooly hoodies with the sheep horns on the hood, or maybe the poofy shorts with the ruffles. But I definitely like your clothes because they're always really big on me. You wear baggy things and that's nice." He let out a low, long hum again for a moment before continuing. "I might like stuffed animals too, and maybe long socks. I don't know about everything else just yet, really."

"And how would you describe our relationship at the moment?" That one didn't quite come out how Junhui had imagined, but there was little time to try to explain it before Minghao answered again.  
"What do you mean by that? We're friends, but you're also my daddy." The second part almost sounded like a question, too; as if he wasn't quite sure whether he had interpreted it correctly.  
"I mean, are we exclusive? Or will this whole 'daddy' thing be finishing when you're in a proper relationship?" That sounded even dumber, he imagined. Minghao laughed.  
"We're on a dating ban, remember? There isn't really gonna be anyone else, and if there is at any point, I'm sure we can discuss it." That one was almost comforting. Not entirely, seeing as there was still the chance that his entire world could flip at any moment, but the fact that they would be able to discuss how their relationship would adapt afterwards was definitely a bonus.

"Last question for now. Are you enjoying being my baby boy so far?"  
"Yes!" There was barely any time to process the question again before Minghao answered that time. The excitement on his face as he realised that this question was a little more lighthearted was something that Junhui loved a lot, and he was frankly glad to see that smile again. It was genuine and warm, and reflected his child-like heart away from the more serious, adultish side to their relationship.

Eventually they reached the house again. Junhui made a point of disposing all evidence of the ice cream before they reached the door, seeing as Minghao had claimed that he no longer wanted ice cream just before they left the studio, before promptly making his way towards his bedroom. He only realised when he got to the door that his friend had followed him all the way over, and immediately felt bad that he had been trying to avoid him. If anything, he just assumed that he wouldn't have been followed through the house, and it made it a tiny bit awkward when he spotted the younger boy behind him. "Would you mind if I had a bit of time to read my book, please? I'm conscious that if people see us together, they might start asking questions again."

Minghao's smile faultered a little, but he nodded in agreement anyway and tried to fake his usual grin. After all of the smiles throughout the day, the hint of hurt wasn't exactly what he wanted to be seeing from his friend. Junhui made a point of turning away from him as he left in order to avoid seeing that slight bit of hurt on his face, and promptly made a beeline for his bed. Once there, he was quick to take the book out from underneath his pillow and resume reading.

It was a book that had caught his interest lately after finding out that it was made up of a collection of short stories. He could read one here and there and not have to worry about being so absorbed in the story that he would straight out be ignoring the rest of the group for a day or two whilst he finished it. Although it wasn't his usual genre, he was finding himself rather fond of the recurring theme of trauma, and somehow he was finding the slight horror to be comforting after the stresses of the day. It was probably something to do with the book showing him a place where the characters were much worse off than himself, so that it could serve as a reminder that his problems weren't all too big after all.

He stayed there reading for a while, quickly losing track of time in the process as he went from one short story to the next. It may not have been the escapist novel that he was used to, but sure as hell it was captivating. The lack of happy or unhappy endings seemed reflective of life and grounded him, if anything, reminding him that no problem was so big that it couldn't be handled. He was rather enjoying reflecting on the neutral state of life through the book when he heard the faintest of knocks on the door and was forcibly dragged away from it all.

"Hello?"  
The door opened a fraction, almost hesitantly, before Minghao's face appeared between the door and the frame. Junhui made a point of trying to look happy to see him there, as not to upset him again by seeming as if he was causing bother by being there, and luckily Minghao seemed to be moderately content too. It wasn't that he didn't want to see him there, but rather that he had been enjoying himself too much to really want to talk to anyone outside of the book. A quick check of the clock suggested that he had probably had been there for a few hours already, though, and it was probably time for some sort of human contact.

“Me and Soonyoung are going to run a few errands before all of the shops close for the night. The offer for ice cream was back on after dinner, which you still haven't eaten, by the way,” he called into the room, and he offered a little smile to Junhui as they made eye contact, “Is there anything you’d like me to pick up for you?”  
He mused over the offer for a moment or two, before making up his mind and motioning to his top drawer. “My wallet is in the top drawer there. Take it with you, and if you have time, could you please get me a sweet snack? Grab yourself something too.”  
Minghao's eyes immediately lit up when he was given the option to get himself something too, and he was quick to grab the wallet out of the drawer as not to accidentally forget to take it with him, before promptly making his way over to where his friend was laying.

Without any warning, he pushed the book away from the older boy's face, then leant down to press a kiss directly to his lips, in a way that was so self-assured that it left Junhui's chest feeling tight. It was unlike the kisses that they had shared before, in the way that it felt firmer and more loving than the usual sex kissing. His lips stayed on Junhui's for longer than expected, and he finally pulled away so slowly that it left the older boy tingling in anticipation for more contact. Yet, that was apparently all Junhui was getting this time, and he made his way to the bedroom door again with just a simple, "Thank you, I'll see you in a few hours."

Junhui listened out carefully for the sound of the front door being closed, and when it did, a wave of relief suddenly washed over him. This was the first occasion in which he was genuinely glad that Minghao had left. It was more than simply wanting alone time now; more so, that he felt a sudden tension take over his body as their lips touched.

There was something about the sweetness of his friend's recent actions that had sparked something unpure in him. Unpure thoughts, unpure actions, unpure feelings. They were friends with benefits for a reason; the whole point was that he wasn't supposed to be developing feelings for Minghao, since their entire relationship was based on the fact that there were no strings attached, or at least there weren't supposed to be. But now he found himself in the exact situation that they had been trying to avoid, and it made his entire body feel heavy with disappointment. Of course, if this was to come out somehow, there would probably be nothing left of their friendship either, since the chances of the younger boy wanting to stay close with a guy who had a thing for him was pretty unlikely as far as he was concerned.

The more he thought about it all, the worse it was starting to sound. He wasn't even sure of whether or not Minghao was even interested in other guys. Sure, they had been sleeping together and kissing and everything, but getting sexually involved with other guys was a completely different thing to actually being attracted to them. He could even be imagining being with girls or something when they were sleeping together, he decided. Granted, it would have to be a girl who was completely fine with topping her boyfriend, but it was still entirely possible that it was just a kink that Minghao had, where it had absolutely nothing to do with his sexual orientation whatsoever. The kisses were probably platonic after all; everyone in the house shared platonic kisses, and this wasn't necessarily going to be anything different just because they had been sleeping together.

That smile was ruining his life, though. That handsome, awkward smile that he gave, where the corners of his eyes scrunched up ever so slightly, and his lips turned up fully at the corners. It wasn't the full grin that he often showed to fans, but the little one that could sometimes be caught for a fraction of a second when his friends were talking about something familiar to him. It was the one that he was showing more often than not when they were together now, and Junhui was certain that that smile alone was going to be his cause of death.

Then there was the way he spoke; there was a huge distinction between his playful childish self that was emerging on multiple occasions each day, and then the more subtle version when he was trying to put on a front around everyone else. Still cute and affectionate and gentle, but also with that bit of a kick sometimes, where he wasn't going down without a snappy comeback or playful insult. Even his voice itself was perfect. His singing abilities were greater than Junhui expected back when they had first met, and he loved more than anything how he could tell what Minghao's raw emotions were through the expression in his voice when he spoke, as much as he tried to hide it.

He loved all sides to his friend, genuinely and fully, and that was what hurt the most. It was past the kink, and past their little games; he wanted every little bit of Minghao all to himself. He was selfish and greedy and disgusting to want to cling to every inch of the boy and keep him all to himself, but there wasn't much that he could do to stop the feeling from overwhelming him. As much as he denied it, he had fallen hard and fast, with his feelings starting to develop after the first time they slept together, and drowning him almost every time since. Friends with benefits just wasn't something that he could handle, it seemed. Whilst it was all well and good to start out with, it was inevitable that he was going to end up catching feelings when Minghao was always so gentle and loving with him, especially since it was the first time that anyone had shown him such love.

"Can I come in?"  
Junhui had been so absorbed in himself that he didn't realise that there was anyone nearby. He snapped around in an attempt to identify the speaker, and was faced with the concerned face of Jeonghan, who was stood leaning on the door frame. Junhui was hesitant to invite him in, but once he did, Jeonghan immediately entered the room and closed the door after himself. They shared the moment of eye contact that Junhui had avoided during their earlier chat, before he made his way over to perch on the edge of the bed. His sitting position was delicate as not to leave Junhui feeling obliged to move his legs to the side.

"Tell me the truth," he said quietly, and for some reason Junhui was hit with a sudden fear. It definitely wasn't made any better by the extended pause between the first part of the statement and everything else that was due to follow. Those few words left him completely reconsidering every single stupid decision that he had made since he had joined the group, despite the fact that it probably wasn't something to do with any of it. Perhaps it was something that he had done recently, like how he had forgotten to clean the rice steamer after making himself a midnight snack and Jisoo had taken the blame for him when Seungcheol had gotten upset over having to clean up someone else's mess again? Or perhaps something to do with what had happened earlier again, even though he had been certain that that conversation was over finally. He hoped more than anything that it wasn't that again.

"Please, tell me the absolute truth," he repeated with his usual flair of gentleness, "Am I right in thinking that you're in love with Minghao, Jun?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a pretty long one (just over 8000 words!) and I wasn't all too sure about posting it since I read it around 10 times in total and it started to feel too familiar and boring, but hopefully it's not as bad as I'm thinking!
> 
> I tried so hard to balance out the cute and the little shit sides to Minghao as best as possible here, since I sort of see him as being the sort to play it a bit in order to get what he wants, despite not being all too big on trying to make himself seem like an innocent Little for the most part (especially in the bedroom; he's probably not the sort to try and fake it there, really), but it was surprisingly difficult to get it working even though I had most of the chapter in mind ready. As an added note though, I'm really feeling like Jun would try to be firm in the first few days of being his Daddy but then decide that it's quite uncomfortable for him to be super dominating and powerful, so he's more of the Daddy who tells his Little 'no' the first time, but wears thin super quickly and ends up giving in if he tries it hard enough? Which, of course, Minghao would gather relatively quickly and end up getting his own way nine times out of ten.
> 
> Hopefully that's all sort of portrayed in the chapter, but as always, if there's any issues, please feel free to let me know and I'll see what I can do to fix it up! Thank you as always for reading!


	4. Confession

_"Please, tell me the absolute truth," he repeated with his usual flair of gentleness, "Am I right in thinking that you're in love with Minghao, Jun?"_

It had been several days, and Junhui still felt like shit over the conversation.

_"Of course not," he laughed, "Why would I be in love with him?"  
"Don't lie to me, Junhui. I've seen the way you look at him. I'm not judging you at all, if that's what you're worried about." Jeonghan seemed to be more concerned than anything, and that's what made his heart skip a beat. Even when the older boy had a load of his own problems to deal with, he was still trying to make sure that everyone else was okay, too._

Perhaps he hadn't approached the conversation with the best attitude from the start. He had spent a few days prior to the confrontation wondering to himself whether he could possibly call it love, and frankly the incident in the practice room, followed by the kiss before he left, was almost enough to confirm it to him. 

Almost, but not quite. There was still something within him that was saying that it was lust, or even just a silly misinterpretation of his feelings, since he had been sleeping with Minghao after all. Kisses and sex weren't all too meaningful nowadays, especially since they had based their entire relationship so far on the fact that they had no strings attached, and really, to develop feelings after that seemed to be a bit ridiculous. It would be easy enough to misinterpret that, in his opinion, since they had pretty much been together all day every day since they started this relationship.

Of course, though, when Jeonghan pointed it out, it felt like a completely different story. The worry had washed away for a while as he was comforted and given a sort of validation for the first time, in which everything he was saying felt honest and genuine and true, with absolutely zero doubt whatsoever.

_They made eye contact again, and this time, Junhui was feeling the earlier anxiety return to him. "Will you at least describe to me what your relationship is at the moment, please? I've been trying to work it out for a few weeks now, since he's been using that little pet name for you a lot. You know the one - he says it in Mandarin but moves it around the sentence so we can't catch onto exactly what it is and check it up online."_

_So they _had_ noticed, despite Minghao's insistence that no one would be able to tell._

_Junhui figured that there was no point in hiding it now, since it was going to end up coming out in one way or another anyway. Jeonghan was expectant, and honestly he probably wouldn't be able to offer the guidance fully if he didn't know what the current terms of their relationship were. At the end of the day, even though he was a sort of angel when it came to helping out those in the group who were battling against their own feelings, there was only so much that the boy could do without knowing a sufficient number of the details._  
"Promise you won't tell anyone else in the group, though? Not even Seungcheol, and especially not Jisoo."  
"I wouldn't spread anything like this around," Jeonghan assured him with a smile. 

It seemed that, to an extent, he had betrayed Minghao's trust by bringing up the sexual side to their relationship. Junhui had spilled it all; from the friends with benefits side to the daddy kink to the flirting on the sidelines that had led him to believe that maybe there was something there. If anything, it had seemed to impress the older male a significant amount; probably since Junhui wasn't usually the sort to discuss his relationships with anyone else in the house if he could help it, including the platonic friendships that just seemed too soppy and affectionate for him to want to discuss out loud. Granted, he had only spilled his thoughts and feelings on the matter in hopes that it would actually do something to get it off his chest, but so far it wasn't doing all too much to help.

It had started with him asking a variety of questions, starting with how they had even decided that Junhui was going to become Minghao's daddy, and gradually moving towards how exactly he felt when he saw the younger boy, both mentally and physically. The description had confirmed it for Jeonghan, and he had offered up a warm smile as he took Junhui's hands in his own.

That was when his absolute worst nightmare was suggested. Jeonghan had been insistent on him telling Minghao how he felt, and wasn't taking any of the weak excuses that he was spurting out. _"You can never tell whether someone returns your feelings unless you tell them,"_ he had said, _"What's the worst that can happen? He doesn't want to sleep with you anymore? Seriously, he can't not be your friend when you're living together, even if it is a bit awkward to start out with."_

It was a weird conversation to be having overall. They had made a plan on how to tell Minghao that he was in love with him, to be dragged out over a few days in order for Junhui to get used to hearing it out loud. It still sounded weird when he tried to say it, and his voice always came out croaky and awkward as soon as he hit the 'l' of 'love', to the point where sometimes he had to force it out. The four words of his confession were repeated several times a day until they started to become more comfortable to say out loud, and as anxious as it made him to have to say it when there was a chance that anyone in the house could hear it, the practice definitely helped to make him more confident in what he was saying. It also arguably helped him to figure out that that was exactly how he felt as soon as those words began to slip more fluidly off his tongue.

The second step was starting to feel more and more stereotypical the more he thought about it. Jeonghan had suggested making him something for dinner, maybe themed to fit with Minghao's favourite traditional Chinese dishes, and he would arrange for everyone to stay out of the way for the evening through very careful planning of group trips and movie nights that somehow managed to incorporate Junhui and Minghao both not being able to join the rest of the group. Although dinner was the last thing that Junhui wanted to put his mind to, he figured that he would be able to adapt it ever so slightly to reflect the day on which they estabilished their relationship initially. They could quite easily spend more time watching other idols with a few Chinese snacks, and eventually have Junhui bring it up at some point, so that it would be less formal and awkward in comparison to a proper dinner with just the two of them. On top of that, if anyone was to walk in on them watching the videos online, it would be a lot less tense than if they were to walk in on the stereotypical candle-lit dinner.

Most of the days leading up to it had been filled with those tiny little anxieties that niggled at his insides and left him feeling uncomfortable more than anything. For starters, he wasn't quite sure whether or not he should continue with his plan if Minghao had seemingly gone into headspace, and seeing as Jeonghan apparently didn't have a lot of experience with this kink in particular, asking him was rather inconclusive. Likewise, checking it up online was giving mixed answers as expected. Some people were suggesting putting it off, others were saying to rip it off like a plaster and your partner should snap out of it for long enough to talk like adults. Incredibly helpful, he decided, in making things more confusing than ever, especially since he'd never actively tried to get his friend out of that state at any point since it was becoming increasingly more common in comparison to how it was at the start.

Secondly, Junhui hadn't ever really worked out how to make most Chinese foods. Having been with the group for a while, he had only really cooked Korean cuisine since he had lived in their dorm, and in general he wasn't massively confident in his skills. Nevertheless, he had made his decision already and there was no turning back, not that Jeonghan would allow him to back out now anyway, and honestly he was praying more than anything that Minghao would appreciate that he tried more than judging the poor quality of his cooking abilities. Junhui was sure that he would, but still, the little anxiety remained regardless.

He had spent the entire day leading up to it fretting; Minghao had been taken out of the house by a few of the other guys, on Jeonghan's request, without actually knowing why they were supposed to be going out. Apparently, the group's angel could also be the group's devil when he wasn't getting what he wanted, and everyone was sure to pay attention when he insisted that they were, in fact, going out for the day, and that they would be out until six o'clock, and that if they were to arrive any earlier, he would take them back out himself. Firm but subtly so; he probably wouldn't be so bothered otherwise, but there was something about setting the other boys up that really got him determined. So far, he had managed to accurately predict three relationships in the house, and it didn't seem as if he was planning on stopping until everyone who obviously had a thing for each other managed to get together.

Of course, from the moment his friend had been taken out of the house that afternoon, he was quick to start on the preparations. Luckily with it all being snack-based foods, they were relatively quick to make and could be put into the fridge until later with only around half of them needing to be reheated nearer to the time. He had even picked out several clips to start with, although it was mostly because he was gradually getting more on edge the closer it got to six o'clock, so that they didn't need an awkward five minutes to find a video clip that they hadn't watched yet. It was probably a huge overreaction considering that they had done this countless times before, but there was no chance that he was going to screw up his own chances before they had even started through little things that he could have arranged better in the first place.

It had only just hit four o'clock by the time he had finished up with every possible preparation, including taking his second shower of the day and redressing in fresh clothes. His approach to the entire situation was far from subtle, but perhaps it would suggest to Minghao that it was a big deal that needed to be discussed well in advance, just so that they would be able to avoid the awkwardness of having that sort of conversation brought up seemingly out of the blue. Trusting his luck, though, Minghao wouldn't think anything of it, since it was just Junhui's regular self when he got to be worked up over a new idea.

Jeonghan had been the first to get to the door once everyone was back, since Junhui was across the other side of the house at the time, and he had promptly instructed them to go straight to his bedroom, where a laptop was set up with a film. No space for arguments or complaining about film choices; they knew that they were to do exactly what he said in order to avoid seeing him get somewhat firmer with his instructions. They had all made a beeline through, with him staring at each boy, as if daring them to ask questions. Finally, he got to the back of the group, where Minghao had been struggling to balance the various bags that he was holding, whilst simultaneously removing his shoes. Before he could follow everyone else, Jeonghan had stepped in front of him with a genuinely sweet smile plastered on his face and had informed him that he wouldn't be joining the rest of the group tonight, since Junhui had something special planned for him.

The fear was obvious on Minghao's face when Junhui made his way over. "Is Jeonghan trying to set us up or something?" he asked, and the reflex response was simply an awkward expression. He was, to an extent, but it had been Junhui's fault from the start, so the older boy could hardly be blamed for it. The attempt at being casual about it had completely gone out of the window already, but he guessed that at least now, Minghao would be somewhat prepared for a confession, since he was the one to suggest that they were being set up.  
"I don't know, but I thought that maybe you'd like to catch up on the shows that we missed tonight anyway?"

Minghao agreed straight away, since they had missed their shows for a few weeks now, but quickly pointed out that he wanted to show Junhui what he'd bought for them both when he was out with everyone else once they were done. Apparently he had had to hide everything underneath other things in his baskets and make the entire thing incredibly sneaky, and so Junhui was particularly intrigued by what sort of things he would have brought back in the overflowing bags. He had intentionally gone for opaque bags as well, just to ensure that no one would be able to question him on what he had purchased based on what they could already see.

Before he could even ask for a hint, though, the younger boy had already started to make his way through to the lounge. Junhui dropped the chain of thought completely for the moment, deciding that there was time for that a bit later, and followed him through the house. He was a few steps behind, but quickly noticed that Minghao had completely stopped in the doorway once he saw everything laid out perfectly and rubbed his eyes, as if he was expecting it to be a dream or something, before turning back to Junhui with a look of complete amazement on his face.

"Did you cook all of this whilst I was out?" Minghao's eyes were like saucers as he turned back to face the countless plates of food that filled the room, "You even got my favourite snacks - I haven't eaten these since I lived in China!" Junhui swallowed hard and forced a smile as he nodded.  
"I was a bit on edge all afternoon so I thought I'd do something productive and sort out some snacks for us. I know how much you miss Chinese food." Thankfully, it wasn't questioned in the slightest. It seemed that by this point, his partner knew not to bring up the causes or intimate details of Junhui's occasional anxious tendencies, and was well aware of the fact that if he did wish to talk about it, he would specifically mention it. That was just one small thing that he really, honestly and genuinely loved about Minghao.

Once they were sat on the sofa together with the first plate of snacks between them, the smaller boy was quick to adjust their position so that they were in a better one for cuddling. He had been insistent on it, despite Junhui's initial attempt to remain sat up properly as they had done the first time, and so the plate was promptly placed on top of a pillow and then down in front of the sofa. Junhui moved to lay stretched out on his back, and Minghao clambered on top of him so that his head was resting on his shoulder so that their torsos were pressed together.

It was a relatively intimate position as far as the older boy was concerned. Not at all sexual by any means, but they were pressed closer than usual; as with the kisses and the dirty talk, it was only usually done in the bedroom. He was suddenly glad that he was starting to come to terms with his feelings more, since he had also changed his opinions about cuddling a lot over the past few weeks; before they had started this sort of relationship, he would have been open to being affectionate and sharing hugs with Minghao as he was with everyone else in the group too, but from then up until this specific moment, he would have been too paranoid that someone would have seen them and immediately known everything to be able to comfortably give Minghao attention. It was ridiculous to think about, but at least for now that had eased up enough for him to be able to show his friend the love that he deserved again without having those little worries eating away at him.

It was comfortable to say the least. The rise and fall of their chests had easily slipped into synchronisation, and they were both were tuned in primarily to the show. By this point, the only little worries that cropped up were when Minghao leant over to switch to the next video. Each time urged Junhui to tell him, to let it all out, until finally he decided to take the plunge.

"Can I talk to you about something please?" Minghao's finger hovered over the touchpad of the laptop as he turned to face his friend with a look of pure confusion plastered on his face. There was no backing out now that he had started, and Junhui knew it.  
"Huh? Sure, if you'd like to."  
"What do you think about me?"

He had expected some sort of questions demanding why he would ask such a stupid question, or perhaps even some gentle mocking over how vain it had sounded when he was asked, but was instead met with the concerned expression that had followed on from the confused one. "Well, I think you're a great friend, I love spending time with you, and I'm really comfortable with the nature of our current relationship." Not quite what he was looking for, but Minghao was quick to follow it up when he saw a twitch of disappointment in his expression. "You can just tell me if you want me to compliment you, you know. If you're feeling down, you can be as blunt as you want with it. I think you're incredibly handsome, and my favourite part of you is your eyes, because they're really expressive and a really nice colour. They look dark but then they hit the light and you have little specks of lighter shades here and there, and I like to look into your eyes a lot because of that."

"Perhaps I should reword the question. What are your feelings towards me?" He felt a bit bad about simply brushing the compliments to the side, but they were a little bit embarrassing, as far as he was concerned, especially when Minghao started to go into detail.  
"What exactly is that supposed to _mean_? I don't think I'm understanding you." There was a hint of frustration in his voice as he seemingly tried to make some sense of the conversation that had been sprung upon him like this.  
"I mean, do you _love_ me?"

Damn it, his voice hitched when he said it. He had spent so long training that out of his voice for absoutely nothing. He was immediately smacked with that undying urge to be consumed again for making his own feelings really obvious when he knew straight out that admitting to having such feelings would probably break their relationship if they weren't returned. The answer wasn't immediate, and that had quite frankly made it even worse for him as he sat in anticipation, thinking over exactly why he shouldn't have asked what he had asked, but it was done now and there was no way to take his stupid words back.

Minghao propped himself up on the sofa so that he could stare into his friend's eyes with a look of confusion plastered on his own face. He blinked a few times and tilted his head ever so slightly to one side as he tried to find the right words to say. "Daddy, am I...? Are you... are you scared that I don't love you, even though I tell you every day before we sleep?"  
"That's not what I mean!" he replied quickly, "I just--"  
"Does Daddy not love Minghao, then?" he asked, cutting Junhui off.

_Shit. He was in headspace again already, and Junhui was a stuttering mess._

"I... I..." Here he was again, back to having to force the word out. No amount of practicing had done anything to help him in the end, and he was quite frankly making a complete fool of himself. "I-I lo... I love y-you, Minghao."

_Fuck it._

Junhui usually had no difficulty with his words. As a child actor and growing idol, he had been taught to use his words well, and so the more he thought about his useless, stammering self, the more ridiculous he felt. Yet, there Minghao was, making it even harder for him to comprehend his own stupidity by staring at him with a completely unreadable expression. It remained that way for a minute or so, a painfully long minute with just a thick tension between them, until Minghao finally squirmed up to kiss his cheek.

"Good."

Good. That was it. He had forced himself to say something that had caused him an unbelievable amount of anxiety for that as an answer. Junhui was far from impressed, but he wasn't prepared to challenge his friend on it because frankly Minghao didn't sign up to be his boyfriend or anything; just a sex buddy and a non-romantic Little. He wasn't supposed to get feelings, so it was his own problem now that he had them, and it wasn't something to put on Minghao's plate.

"Can Minghao show his Daddy what he bought today now? Only the cute things, though; there's some stuff for Daddy too for when him and Minghao are alone." Junhui was somewhat glad that his inner child had completely changed the subject to something far less awkward and embarrassing to talk about. Minghao had seemingly become too distracted from the screen now that he was in headspace, so Junhui simply nodded and allowed him to hop up to grab his bags from earlier. He was back within a minute, sitting on the floor in front of his friend with all of them to his side, then he flashed a glance in the direction of the bedrooms before reaching for the first bag. "Do you think someone is gonna see us?" Minghao's voice was low and nervous, suggesting that he was toeing the line between either side to his personality, but Junhui reached out to stroke his cheek in hopes that it would calm him down.

"Jeonghan won't let anyone leave the bedrooms. Show Daddy what pretty things you bought." There was still some hesitation, but Minghao finally began to search through the bags and pulled out a selection of cute clothes, placing each on the floor in front of him. There were at least five pairs of woollen thigh high socks, a few pairs of shorts that puffed out like bloomers and had thick cuffs around the leg holes, a selection of oversized chunky knit jumpers, heart-shaped garters with matching chokers, and finally a printed shirt that read 'Daddy's Angel' across the chest.

"I'm going to put them on for Daddy now," Minghao announced with a particular sense of confidence that Junhui hadn't heard from him in at least a few days. Despite his friend being in headspace, he couldn't help but stare as he pulled his shirt off to reveal his slim-built torso, then quickly tugged on a light grey jumper instead. It was probably an extra large, if the way it sat on Minghao's frame was anything to go by, and the neck was wide enough to not only narrowly avoid slipping off his shoulder whenever he moved, but also showed off almost the entirety of his collarbones. Despite it looking as if a parent had dressed their child in a school uniform that was way too big in hopes that they would grow into it by the end of the year, Minghao looked adorable in the knit, and it did seem to be soft and comfortable for him. His trousers and socks soon joined the shirt on the floor, as he bent down to grab a pair of socks and some shorts.

Junhui's focus had been completely innocent until that point, but as his friend reached down to grab the new clothes from the floor, the jumper had risen up his back to reveal that he was wearing red cotton panties with white polka dots and a lace trim. He had never seen his friend in panties before, but if he was being honest, it was something that he didn't know he needed until this moment. As kiddish as they were, they framed his arse perfectly, and he couldn't help but stare until the jumper slipped back down to cover them again. They remained completely hidden again until Minghao turned back to face him with the baby pink shorts resting on his upper thighs and grumbled a comment on how maybe he should have bought a size larger. It was a tight fit as he wriggled them up, but finally he got them up and buttoned them up without too much difficulty.

They were a lot shorter than Junhui had imagined when he first saw them, considering how childish and cute the shorts looked, but he wasn't really complaining. The fabric was being eaten by Minghao's ass a little as he bent again to scoop everything back into the bags in case anyone else walked in, and when he moved towards Junhui again, the bulge at the front was particularly obvious. Minghao wasn't the biggest in that area, but he definitely looked like he was packing well with how tight the fabric was clinging to his skin. The inner seam of the cuffs were also rising higher up his thighs the more he moved, so that the little bit of fat on his thighs spilled out of the shorts right at the top. It was incredibly attractive, and as much as Junhui wanted to keep the cutesy pretty side to Minghao's headspace relatively pure, his mind was instantly flooded with thoughts of absolutely destroying every inch of the younger boy.

"I want Daddy to kiss me," he commanded as he moved forward to straddle his lap. Junhui didn't even mind the fact that he was stating rather than asking again; he was almost jumping at the opportunity as it was, so he was glad that he was getting the chance to kiss his partner whilst he was dressed in such attire. Minghao had adjusted his sitting position in a way that had left their crotches pressed together, with just the fabric of their trousers keeping them apart, and frankly whilst it wouldn't usually affect Junhui all that much to have Minghao sat on his lap like that, there was something about the tightness of his shorts that made it difficult to not grind up against him like an animal in heat.

He had come into this expecting to simply confess his feelings and possibly get a boyfriend or a date out of it, but considering how badly he'd failed at making his feelings known, he was rather relieved by the fact that it was this easy to pretend that it had never happened. Once they were close enough to each other, Minghao leant in slowly to press their lips together in a gentle, loving kiss, just like the one he'd given after the practice session a week or two earlier. Just as it had done the first time, the kiss left Junhui's chest feeling tight as their lips met in such an innocent manner, and he swore he was about to explode when both of the younger boy's hand pressed to his cheeks and pulled him closer as the soft lips moved over his own. They continued sharing little kisses for a minute or two until Minghao's tongue flashed out to tease at Junhui's lower lip, and suddenly the intensity of the kiss had jumped up to heavy making out, accompanied by little grunts and moans here and there as nips, sucks and licks were sloppily exchanged between them.

Minghao grabbed for Junhui's hands hand and moved them both back to press to his rear, prompting to give a little squeeze. It was starting to become comforting for him to grab the younger boy's body in such ways now, probably due to the sense of familiarity that came along with it, but he quickly found himself starting to rhythmically grope in time with Minghao's grinding down against him. His lips naturally moved to his friend's neck as they broke apart for air, starting with little pecks littered all over the skin, but quickly turning to deep open-mouthed kisses across his throat. Minghao's head rolled back to give more space for him to work with; each kiss that was pressed hotly to his neck was drawing out lewd little noises that were quickly making Junhui realise that what Jeonghan had described as being the worst-case result of a failed confession was definitely something that he didn't want to risk either. Where it probably wouldn't be the worst situation in the world to lose his Little, it was pretty damn close, in his opinion, and the last thing he wanted was to reach a point where the younger boy was no longer comfortable with their relationship.

A gentle suck to the skin just a few inches south of his chin was enough to bring Minghao's neck snapping back up, and he quickly batted his friend with a hand. "Stop it. You know I'll be in deep trouble if I turn up to work with love bites, Wen Junhui," he snapped, apparently slipping out of headspace a little just to scold him, and as much as Junhui figured that he should feel guilty for toeing the boundary, it still gave him a sense of pride.  
"What if I leave them somewhere else?" he asked, smirking against the skin as he did so, then promptly moved a hand back to Minghao's inner thigh to demonstrate where he was thinking of leaving a mark. He gave a pinch to that little bit of thigh fat that had caught his attention just a few minutes earlier, and his friend shivered in anticipation for the touches that he was being led to expect. "Go to the bedroom, give me five minutes to put everything in the fridge, and I'll be in to do it."

Junhui swore he'd never seen Minghao move that fast in his entire life. The boy pretty much launched himself from his lap, snatched up all of the bags in one motion, then sprinted in the direction of the bedroom, as if him moving faster was going to guarantee that Junhui's clean up process was also going to be sped up as a result. Of course, the older male wasn't planning on moving any faster just because his partner had made a special effort to dash to the room in record time, but he did appreciate the fact that there was no dawdling in his way as he started to pack up the snacks and laptop.

"Ah, Jun!" Jeonghan called as he poked his head around the bedroom door, "I was just coming out to catch up with you. I wasn't sure whether to disturb you just yet, but I thought I heard Minghao just go past." He slipped through the door and shut it after himself, then made his way across to where Junhui was standing. His eyes scanned the room to see that half of the snacks still remained and were being put into as few boxes as physically possible, ready to be put into the fridge. They made eye contact for a moment, with both of them giving completely neutral expressions as they waited for the other to talk. When it didn't come after a solid minute of silence, Jeonghan cleared his throat and finally piped up.

"Did it work?" He looked hopeful, although it was obivous that he could tell that the plan had completely flopped from the way that his friend was dragging himself around the room a little. As much as he had avoided most of the embarrassment when it had started to get heated between him and Minghao, there was still that bit of disappointment in himself over his inability to successfully do something so simple as to confess his feelings for another person. Junhui decided to spare him the explanation of how badly it went, and instead simply shook his head. He could barely meet the elder's eye; Jeonghan had put so much effort into making sure that he and Minghao had had a private evening, and he had completely messed it up. It felt as if he was throwing it back in his face, too, since he wasn't really in the mood to try again any time soon. 

A hand had pressed encouragingly to his shoulder regardless. "We'll just try again, okay? If you can hold out for a few weeks, I can see if we can arrange to go to a theme park or something as a group, and you two can mysteriously split off from the rest of the group and have some romantic time to yourselves. Don't beat yourself up over it; it took Seungcheol a good month and a half of trying to ask me on a date for it to actually work, so there's plenty of time for us to be able to work on it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Huge huge huge apologies for taking three and a half centuries to write the newest chapter; I've had a huge amount of writer's block with this one in particular, which I tried to ease out of with other projects, and it just started to get progressively worse, so in the end I just had to force it and hope for the best. It's been written and rewritten a good six or seven times so far, each with different outcomes for the confession, but hopefully this will give rise to a few extra chapters and a more realistic relationship development overall; there's a few ideas of where to take it now so hopefully future updates won't be all too far away.
> 
> Thank you for staying with me through all of this, and as always, please let me know if there's any ideas or ways to improve <3


	5. Jellyfish

Since his failed confession, Junhui was surprised to find that his and Minghao's sex life had become increasingly active; not just for a week or two afterwards, but rather it was still going strong a month later with no signs of slowing down.

Junhui didn't mind all too much. Although he hadn't quite wanted their relationship to fall into the trap of being based primarily around the sex, it was like they were new lovers who were just starting to get to know each other's bodies. It was surprisingly novel every time they ended up rolling into bed together, and Junhui was rather fond of the way that making love to him daily was still fun.

He had no idea of whether it meant there was something more between them, though. For the most part, Minghao would moan out "daddy" when asked to say his name, but on occasion he was calling him "Jun" - usually completely unprompted as well. It scared him the first time it happened; he wasn't sure whether he had hurt him or something, but Minghao had just let out a breathless laugh and told him to keep going at that pace. He hoped that it meant he was starting to return the feelings, although he wasn't planning on making the first move towards finding out any time soon.

In fact, he hadn't even tried to bring up his romantic feelings for an entire month after the last attempt at confessing. As much as Jeonghan was prompting him to ask Minghao out on a proper date, he had been feeling relatively fragile since the last time, and so decided to put it off as much as possible. It wasn't something that he was planning on rushing anyway; whether him and Minghao started dating that day or in three years, it didn't make a huge difference to him really. He'd held his feelings in for this long, so it didn't really matter if he had to do that for a while longer.

They had just been coming down from the buzz of sex when he finally decided to bite the bullet and make the first move again. Minghao had dragged him to his room straight after dinner, and they had really gone for it, getting through a total of four rounds before the fatigue had hit too hard. Minghao was drowning in his own sweat; whilst he'd tried to get rid of it subtly during the earlier rounds, he'd completely given up by the time he had two loads in him and was well on the way to the third. It probably wasn't the best time to ask, considering that the younger boy was a slick mess in the centre of the bed with his eyes closed softly and breath still heavy, but at the same time it would hopefully mean that he didn't have the strength to argue if he was going to reject Junhui's advances.

He made a point of pushing the sweat-soaked hair off his friend's forehead first, just to ease Minghao's tired mind into the idea that he was about to talk to him, and one eye opened slightly to check on whether he was okay. "Minghao, baby boy?" He made a noise to show that he was acknowledging the fact that he was being spoken to, and Junhui offered a little smile to him. "Are you still my baby boy right now?" He visibly thought it over for a moment before nodding and weakly holding his arms out to be held. Junhui wrapped both arms around him, ignoring the feeling of the cold wet patches on the bed sheets, then pulled him up and onto his lap. The younger boy immediately leaned his full body forward and wedged his face in the gap between his friend's shoulder and neck.

Although it probably wasn't best to bring it up whilst he was in head space again, that bit of childish innocence calmed Junhui a lot, to the point where he felt as if he could handle speaking his feelings better when he was like that. "How would you feel if Daddy took you out somewhere nice on Friday?" he asked quietly as he rubbed slow circles on Minghao's back. Minghao stayed silent for longer than he had hoped, but eventually pulled his face free so that he could look into his eyes with a curiosity that shone through the tiredness.

He knew that he was waiting expectantly for further details, but Junhui found himself sitting in silence for a short while too. There was something about the way Minghao looked at that precise moment that made his voice catch in his throat before the words even managed to make their way out. He had dry clumps of hair sticking up on end around the middle of his head, with the damp hair at the nape of his neck clinging to the back of his ears, and the sweaty patch right at the front pushed back just enough to prevent the longer strands from getting into his eyes. His face was a bit puffy and his cheeks still red. Beads of sweat were still forming on the surface of his skin as he sat there, even though he was gradually coming down from it all.

After Junhui didn't continue, Minghao apparently got thinking about it and let out a little sigh of defeat. "Don't we have dance practice on Friday though?" He seemed to be disappointed enough to make it seem as if he genuinely wanted to go out somewhere with him, which was a good sign to continue, as far as Junhui was concerned.  
"I mean, on the evening, if you'd like to."  
"Like a dinner date?"  
"A different thing, but we can have dinner too, if you want. I guess you'd be hungry after dance practice, wouldn't you?"

He seemed to be curious about what the date was due to include as soon as Junhui got vague with it. No amount of begging with him managed to get any extra details about where they were supposed to be going; it was something that Junhui knew he would like, but wasn't something that he was going to reveal until they actually got there. In the end, the younger boy pouted a bit, but accepted the invitation regardless.

The days leading up to the date continued as they had been before, with the added bonus of Junhui arranging the date in the background. He had made sure to go over his plans over and over, just to make sure that he had got them absolutely perfect before it came to the day, and by the time it hit Friday morning he was absolutely certain that nothing could go wrong from the perspective of the set up. As an added bonus, Jeonghan was the only other one in the group who was aware of what was happening, and he made sure to have some excuses in the bag for why they were going back out after training for if anyone asked about it.

Junhui was glad that he had given extra time for them to shower and change by the time that their dance practice had finished, since it had been relatively hard work. He had only noticed when he went to put his jacket back on afterwards that he had huge wet patches on the small of his back, under his arms and around the collar of his shirt, and he grimaced as he tried to cover it up. Going to their date looking like that would have definitely ruined the mood, he decides, for himself if not Minghao too.

They had showered and changed quickly upon getting back to the dorm and tried to leave quietly as not to raise any questions that would put them on the spot, and luckily they managed to get out of the dorm and down the street without anyone noticing them. Minghao let out a sigh of relief and relaxed once they were out of view. "I'm guessing they don't know that we're going somewhere tonight?" Junhui shook his head and offered an awkward smile.  
"Just Jeonghan. But you know him; he had to know everything that's going on in the dorm."

Minghao gave a nod of understanding, although he was obviously a bit on edge over the last part of the conversation. He had found out that Jeonghan knew about their situation the hard way; through the elder male accidentally walking in on them on one occasion in the past month. It had saved Junhui the awkward conversation in which he informed his friend that he had told someone else in the dorm, but Minghao had been absolutely mortified over it for days, as much as he tried to say that he wasn't bothered by it.

There was idle conversation on the way to the date, in which Minghao occasionally tried to guess where they were going and Junhui informed him that he wouldn't be telling until they got there. Every guess was incorrect anyway; the place he had decided on was relatively novel and not something that he expected Minghao to think of when he asked to take him out, especially not at this time of day.

It had taken around twenty five minutes of walking for them to get there, mostly because Junhui had decided to take it slow and go down back streets to get there. Minghao had only caught on when his friend took him into the COEX mall, and it had taken him a moment to realise what he was actually looking at when they reached the specific place that Junhui had planned for them to visit. "This is the place," Junhui announced when Minghao didn't respond, and the younger boy just tilted his head to the side a bit.  
"Is this an aquarium?"

Junhui felt his chest get tight as he saw the way that Minghao was looking at it with a confused expression. "We can go somewhere else if you don't like aquariums." His friend's head instantly snapped in his direction, and he quickly shook his head, a smile erupting on his lips.  
"No no no, I love aquariums! I just didn't expect that we'd be coming here, especially at--" He paused to check his watch, "--six o'clock."  
"We can stay until eight if you want. Our dinner reservation is at eight-thirty."  
"Dinner too?" His eyes were glistening with excitement as he gazed lovingly at Junhui, and the older boy could feel his cheeks starting to get warm. Minghao was _adorable_.

He hurried Junhui into the aquarium as quickly as possible, and he was quite frankly anything but patient whilst the older boy was paying for their admission. Every step he took from the moment they received their tickets had a little bit of a bounce, to the point where he was almost skipping along to the first exhibit, pulling his friend along with him. Junhui hadn't even realised that they had ended up holding hands until the younger boy started to drag him through the building in an attempt to get to the fish a little quicker.

The way that he looked at the fish with such fascination left Junhui's chest tight. Whilst he did like fish, he'd never really seen them as half as fascinating as Minghao was seeing them. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he gazed up at the tank, and every time a shark passed them, he would let out a noise of fascination. It only made it sweeter when he started whipping out facts about the fish that swam past them, and honestly Junhui was enjoying hearing the excitement from him as they walked together. Their hands were still clasped tightly together for entire time, since there were very few people around at that point in time, and for a while it felt as if they weren't idols; they were just a regular couple on a regular date.

They had walked around slowly, spending time looking at absolutely everything they had to offer, and Junhui found himself in a situation in which he was getting to see the fascination in his friend's face almost constantly. The low lights of the tanks were leaving his face illuminated and reflecting in wide eyes, and honestly it looked absolutely beautiful. It was almost breathtaking how perfect he looked whilst he was walking around, only made better by the fact that Minghao was occasionally whipping out trivia on the fish in the tanks as they swam past.

It had all been peaceful until they found themselves at the touch pool area and a member of staff had encouraged them to touch the starfish. Minghao had suddenly gone very quiet, earning a bit of confusion from Junhui in the process since he had seemed to be interested in all of the other fish beforehand. He had done everything possible to avoid going too close to it without seeming uncomfortable, but Junhui had quite easily seen through his attempt at being somewhat disinterested and pointed out that he seemed to be more anxious than anything.

"I'm a bit scared," he admitted with a shy smile, "I used to think that starfish were cool until my parents told me that they were actually alive, then I started getting a bit uncomfortable with them. It's fine now, you know since I'm an adult and all, but I never touched one when I was little."  
"Give me your hand," Junhui instructed as he offered a hand out to him. Minghao was hesitant, but his friend was very careful when wrapping his fingers around the middle of his hand, leaving his fingers free to move. He slowly dipped their hands into the water as not to cause too much movement, then gradually moved his hand closer and closer until his fingertips were almost touching the leg of the starfish. "Do you want to touch it?" When Minghao nodded, he moved his hand a fraction closer so that just his fingertips were brushing the surface.

"It feels really weird; I always imagined them to be soft, but it's really rough."  
"They are, aren't they?" He took him to wash his hands as they continued discussing the texture of the starfish, and this time it was Junhui's turn to bring out starfish trivia, since Minghao had always been too uncomfortable with the fish to take interest in facts about them. It was sweet to see him smiling as he took the information in and asked questions, and he admitted that he thought they were starting to get pretty cool in his mind once he knew a bit more about them.

Their journey continued around with moderate interest in absolutely everything until finally there were signs for the jellyfish. Minghao's grip on his friend's hand had immediately tightened, and Junhui had been worried that he would be uncomfortable with the jellyfish too, until he noticed the huge grin on Minghao's face as they started to walk towards that part of the aquarium.

"I love jellyfish," Minghao breathed as he let his eyes wander over the tanks, "They're so pretty. Did you know that they have to have round tanks so that they don't hurt themselves? They're mostly water so they're really delicate and get hurt easily." He continued to give more and more jellyfish trivia as he watched them swimming around the tank, and Junhui couldn't help but watch him more than the fish. It took a few minutes for him to finally peel his eyes away from the tanks, having realised that his friend hadn't spoken in a while, and Junhui gave a quick glance around the area before letting his eyes rest on Minghao's. They were alon, and he was more than thankful for that.

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away," Minghao whispered, not wanting to speak too loud considering that there was absolute silence surrounding them. Junhui shook his head slowly.  
"It was nice to hear you talking about something you enjoy so much. You can continue if you want." He looked as if he was about to for just a moment, but then quickly erupted into a nervous laugh instead, his eyes dropping to the floor.  
"I think I've talked about them enough," Minghao finally admitted as his eyes began to travel back up Junhui's body. They rested on his friend's eyes for too long, but the moment that was shared between them felt more intimate than uncomfortable. Expressions neutralised completely as they held each other's gaze, and finally Minghao took a hesitant step forward so that they were stood even closer to each other than they had been beforehand.

They both knew what was coming from that point. Junhui let the back of his fingers run over Minghao's cheek, and from the moment that he noticed his friend's face getting closer to his own, the younger boy's eyes slowly closed. He dampened his lips slightly with the tip of his tongue then allowed his lips to soften in anticipation for what was inevitably going to follow. Junhui let his own eyes close just before they made contact, letting the sensation of the kiss take over from there. It was innocent and sweet and so so gentle; neither made an active effort to deepen it more than necessary, instead opting to simply share a kiss that was void of sexual nature, yet had can incredible amount of intimacy. If Minghao didn't know about Junhui's feelings for him before this, he would almost certainly know after this.

When they drew apart again, Minghao's cheeks were brushed with a red flush. He tried to hide it in Junhui's shoulder to start with, until the older boy used a fingertip to lift his chin up so that they were almost nose to nose. "Would you like to continue through to the penguins now or would you prefer more time with the jellyfish?"  
"I could spend all day with the jellyfish, so I think it might be best to move on," he admitted with a smile.

The penguins had served as a comedown from the jellyfish, but they had been incredibly cute. Minghao had commented on how adorable they looked as they waddled, and he had even done an impression of their walk, which had left Junhui laughing. It was strangely accurate but looked unusual on him at the same time, since he had even tried to imitate the way that their legs were positioned on their bodies. It was lighthearted and sweet as a way of finishing up, and the trivia about all different types of penguins was still flowing when they finally made their way to the gift shop.

Although Minghao swore that he didn't want any gifts, it was clear that he had noticed some jellyfish in the corner and was trying to subtly look at them without making it too obvious that he was interested in them. Junhui had made a point of capturing his interest with other little gifts in another corner of the gift shop, and he had been both amazed and relieved by how he had managed to snatch up one of the jellyfish without him catching him. The toy had been purchased whilst he was busy elsewhere, but then Minghao had caught him near the counter and immediately made a beeline over to ask about it. Junhui made a point of getting him out of the aquarium first before teasing him by fiddling with it behind his back.

"Close your eyes Minghao." The younger boy instantly did as instructed, placing all of his trust in his friend as he did so, and Junhui slowly pressed the jellyfish against his hand. He jolted slightly, having not expected the contact against his hand, but still kept his eyes closed until he was instructed to do so. Both eyes opened slowly before moving straight down to his hand.  
"It's a jellyfish!" he exclaimed happily.

He immediately threw himself forward to hug the older boy tightly, the excitement obvious from how tight he squeezed him. The various forms of 'thank you' that spilled from his mouth in both Korean and Mandarin left a soft warmth in Junhui's stomach, but it was the whisper of, "I love you, daddy Jun," that left it doing somersaults. It was something sweet and loving, and as much as he would've still bought him the jellyfish regardless of whether he just gave an appreciative smile or thanked him one thousand times, it was the little comment that had made it absolutely, one hundred percent worth getting it for him.

The walk over to the restaurant from that point had been slow and romantic. They had walked across the city hand in hand as they chatted together, and the conversation had been primarily about the fun that they'd had in the aquarium, despite the fact that they'd only just left. Junhui had been proud of the fact that he had picked what was possibly the best possible first date idea for Minghao, given that he had reacted so well to every single aspect of it, and this dinner date was going to be the final thing to put a cherry on the cake.

He was going to ask Minghao to be his boyfriend whilst they were waiting for coffee at the end of the meal. If it went well they would be able to enjoy that final part of the experience together before taking a walk home, but if it fell through at least they would have the coffee to spare them of too much awkwardness.

They had arrived a bit early for their reservation, but were seated almost immediately upon arrival. Junhui had specifically asked to be sat near the back, just in case they were recognised, but the restaurant had relatively low lighting, which definitely helped with keeping their cover. Starters had been ordered almost immediately, and conversation had been general for a little while until finally Minghao pursed his lips and seemed as if he had something on his mind.  
"Is there something you'd like to talk about?" Junhui asked him quietly as he reached across the table to stroke his hand, and his friend had given a nod before seemingly trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. Finally it came, but it wasn't exactly what Junhui had been expecting.

"Will you promise not to be angry with me if I tell you something that's been on my mind for a few weeks now?"

It wasn't something that Junhui could usually promise, but he guessed he could make an exception this time. He trusted Minghao to not pull some crazy confession out of the bag about something really bad that he might have done, and he was almost certain that it wasn't going to be something that would change his opinion on him regardless of what it was. The younger boy took a deep breath in and shifted his eyes to the table in front of him.

"This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to say to you, Junhui, and I hope you understand that." The first sentence alone was enough to switch Junhui's mood from calm to panicked, although he tried more than anything to slow his racing heart and swallow down the lump in his throat. "So I'm just going to say it straight out. I think I'm in love with someone. It's been a really hard thing for me to come to terms with it, but I honestly don't know what he'd say if I told him how I feel."

He felt _sick_. Yet, all he could do was force a smile and try to hide the pain in his heart as best as possible through being as enthusiastic as appropriate. He'd been quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time as he tried to build himself up to it, leaving Minghao with a look of concern on his face. "Oh, really? I'm happy for you." He most definitely was not happy for him, and he was certain that Minghao got that from the way his words came out. His slight frown remained for a moment, until he finally let out a sigh and continued explaining his feelings again.  
"I was just wondering whether I should actually take the next steps though, you know? I don't know how long he's had my heart, but every time he's looked at me lately I've felt like I'm suffocating. It's like there's a weight on my chest and I ended up checking it up online to make sure I wasn't getting ill with something serious, but it's just when I look at him so it couldn't be. It's not easy to talk about it, but I've never felt this way about anyone before in my life."

 _Never felt this way about anyone before_. The words replayed in his head over and over, and Junhui was certain that if Minghao were to make eye contact with him, he would almost certainly have to find a way to hide the tears that he was already trying desperately to hold back. The conversation was progressing quickly, and he was starting to struggle to remain composed already. Despite that, though, he couldn't stop himself from asking more questions. "Have you tried talking to him about it?"  
"No, I... I don't know whether he feels the same way about me. I wouldn't expect him to feel like that about me, considering the given situation between us and all. Like our current relationship isn't conventional, and we have such a strange sort of thing going on right now; completely far from the ordinary. I mean, I've kissed him a few times, but then again, hasn't everyone in the dorm kissed each other?"  
"In the dorm?"   
"A-ah, yeah." 

So it was one of the boys they lived with. That made his chest hurt even more. From that alone, he could guess that it was going to be Soonyoung. Although their friend had expressed a clear interest in other boys in the dorm, he wouldn't be all too surprised if it turned out that him and Minghao had something extra going on. After all, he was particularly interested in them both, although he and Minghao would tend to go out shopping or for coffee together at every given opportunity. Perhaps Junhui didn't fully know the extent of their relationship or something.

He decides not to mention names, though, but rather tailored his response more towards that assumption. "If it's who I think you're talking about, you two have been a lot more affectionate with each other lately. Being more loving with each other, spending more time together; that sort of thing." Minghao seemed relatively wary for just a second, but quickly loosened up again and broke into a huge smile.  
"We have, haven't we? And then there's the sex, too. I was a bit nervous about doing it to start with, but it's really good. I never would've expected it to happen, but I'm so so glad that it did."

Another blow. Junhui's world had crashed and burned in a matter of seconds. He would have probably been fine if it had just been kisses, but he definitely hadn't expected Minghao to be sleeping with someone else as well as him, and it left him feeling more numb than anything. It was Minghao's decision to do that, at the end of the day, but at the same time he had hoped to have at least had a chat about it beforehand. Whilst Junhui wasn't his boyfriend, he thought that they were a lot closer than to do that behind each other's backs, and on top of that there was the issue with infection and all, since him and Minghao hadn't used protection once during the time that they had been friends with benefits. He had figured that it wasn't too much of a big deal and hadn't really wanted to get caught in a scandal with someone recognising him as he went out to purchase condoms, but apparently now it was a big deal.  
"Do you think we should maybe give it a shot then?" Minghao continued when there was no response, his eyes lighting up excitedly.  
"If you want." 

Junhui couldn't even muster up the strength to come up with a better answer. He felt as if his entire world has been ripped to shreds in the space of a day. Perhaps it would have been better if he had specified that he had wanted to take Minghao on an actual date, he figured, since then they probably wouldn't have been caught in a situation where he was talking about his feelings for someone else in front of him. A daring glance up at his friend's face showed that Minghao's expression was back to being wary and uncomfortable again, although Junhui couldn't even imagine why that would be.

"Are we on the same page here, Jun? Did I say something wrong?"  
"No, it's fine. You should confess your feelings for him when you get back to the dorm." He made direct eye contact for the first time in a while, not particularly caring if the hurt was obvious in his eyes this time, and Minghao's expression quickly changed from confused to shocked. His expression appeared to be bordering between disbelieving and amused sides to the shock for a solid minute, before his lips finally cracked into a smile.  
"Junhui, I don't think we're thinking of the same person," he admitted with an awkward laugh, "I thought my hinting worked but I don't think so anymore." 

Junhui simply sat there expressionless as he waited for his friend to continue. When he didn't reply, Minghao's smile faded completely and he visibly swallowed before speaking again. "Come on, I thought it would be obvious who I was talking about. Who have I been more affectionate with lately? Who have I kissed and had sex with, seriously?"  
"Soonyoung?" The name felt uncomfortable to say but even more uncomfortable to hear echoing back at him.  
"Soonyoung? Seriously?" Minghao laughed again, burying his face in his hands in exasperation, "Jun, do you think I would cheat our arrangement by not telling you if I'd slept with him? Tell me who the only person you know for sure I've done that with is."

Silence. He feels stupid to say it, because although it's clicked with him who Minghao meant, it doesn't feel real still. With a sigh and playful eye roll, soft hands slipped across the table towards him and wrapped around his fingers. "Wen Junhui, this is me confessing my feelings for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this has taken so long to complete; a lot has been happening with regards to assignments, exams and struggling to think of suitable plot points for this chapter, but here we are and hopefully it's worth some of the wait!!
> 
> Thank you for staying with me, and please feel free to drop any tips or ideas in the comments <3


	6. Coming Out

Nothing changed between Junhui and Minghao once they were officially dating.

It seemed as if it would be something good to have a relationship in which everything stayed the same and there wasn't that awkward period of trying to adjust between being friends and boyfriends, but frankly Junhui was finding that they were getting quite the opposite effect.

He felt himself feeling more self-conscious once they were together than he had been when they had a friends with benefits relationship, and it was very clearly annoying Minghao more than anything. Of course, he knew that it would be best to come out to the rest of the group and let them know that their relationship had developed, but at the same time he wasn't exactly the sort to make a scene about that sort of thing. He hated kissing in front of other people and wasn't massively comfortable with unnecessary skin contact when they were with their friends either.

Whilst those sorts of things seemed acceptable in the group usually, having genuine romantic feelings took them back a step. There was always that bit of consciousness about the fact that someone may have realised that the cuddling wasn't just platonic, and the thought left Junhui feeling more than slightly embarrassed. On the other hand, though, Minghao had expressed how he wanted to become more relaxed with their relationship in front of everyone else so that they would have the time to adjust before they officially announced it to everyone.

Junhui knew how much it meant to him, but he found that every time he tried to do it, he could feel a fight or flight response on the verge of erupting, and he could feel the bile starting to rise up his throat every time they were close to being caught in a compromising position. He wanted to show everyone his relationship with Minghao, he honestly and truly did, but there was something about it that left him on edge.

"Do you have a problem with us being out to everyone?" Minghao finally asked a few weeks after their initial conversation about making their relationship more open. It was clear from his tone that he was trying not to get argumentative, but it was increasingly difficult for them to not start bickering over it.  
"I'm nervous about coming out, if I'm being honest," Junhui admitted, and honestly he was relieved to see that his boyfriend's expression started to show more concern than anything. He reached a hand forward to stroke Junhui's cheek, then shuffled closer so that they were sat thigh to thigh.

"I know it's going to be hard, but I don't want to spend too long in the closet, and people are going to start noticing."  
"Noticing what?" Junhui asked, despite already knowing the answer to the question. It was obvious what he meant, as much as Junhui wanted to pretend that it wouldn't be something that would affect him too if his boyfriend was to come out to the group.

As much as they would deny it, the group would start to over analyse every bit of contact that Minghao had with any of the other boys from the moment that he came out to them. They tried not to do it, but Junhui had found himself caught in conversations about how Jeonghan and Seungcheol could have possibly been more than just the parent friends enough without either boy coming out, so it would likely be worse if Minghao were to specify his sexuality. Every move they made would turn into a secret discussion behind their backs, and the thought of everyone assuming such things was enough to make his skin crawl. On top of that, they would probably end up pushing Minghao to tell them about his relationships with other boys, and Junhui knew that his boyfriend wouldn't be comfortable with lying about their feelings for each other.

"Just be casual about it," Minghao insisted once he had explained it all, "Don't flinch away when I touch you. Let me sit on your lap. Work up to coming out with me. I'm sure no one will really care." It sounded like a good idea, as far as Junhui was concerned, and the subtlety of it was probably enough to calm his anxiety. He quickly agreed to do as Minghao had requested and allowed him to shuffle onto his lap, where he wrapped both arms around the smaller figure and held him close to his chest.

It was fine to start with. Junhui managed to relax relatively quickly against his boyfriend as they started watching through their dance practice video in order to pick out their own weak points. It had been something that Soonyoung had suggested for the group in order to make their next comeback stage their best, and although they had all been doing incredibly well up until that point anyway, there was never any harm in trying to improve further.

Yet, the moment that Junhui heard someone else nearby, his entire body tensed. Minghao immediately turned to face him in confusion, as apparently he hadn't heard the slightest creak of someone just outside the room, and the speed in which Junhui moved him to sit on the other side of the sofa caught him completely off guard. He sat staring at his boyfriend in stunned silence, expecting him to have to jump up to go to the bathroom suddenly or fetch something that he had forgotten was in the oven, but instead he was faced with Soonyoung entering and Junhui trying to act 'natural'.

He couldn't help it. There was the space to just act casually about it and he had had other boys on his lap before. That bit of affection was inevitable between the group, and it even extended to helping the other boys to wash their backs or hair in the shower in some cases, or they would share beds without the need to do so. It was something he did so often with everyone else and he was certain that it'd be more obvious that there was something romantic between them if he singled Minghao out as the only one he didn't show those levels of affection to. There was a crippling need to get space, though, as if making their relationship more explicit to the group felt as if it were equivalent to being suffocated.

Soonyoung glanced between them, then at the screen in front of them, and immediately broke into a smile. "You two are working hard as usual," he pointed out, not bothering to comment on the uncomfortable distance between the boys, "I've just been sent over to let you both know that Jeonghan is trying his hand at making bungeoppang, so you're welcome to come in and grab some if you'd like some."

Junhui flashed a glance over to his boyfriend. It was one of his favourite dessert dishes, so it was a surprise when the younger boy gave a little shake of his head. "I think I'm good thanks," he said simply, and Junhui felt his heart sinking as he gave the same answer. He guessed that Minghao was feeling disappointed over the way that he had moved him aside, seeing as he rarely ever rejected food, but at the same time he was doing a good job at hiding it if that was the case, so Junhui figured that it probably wasn't as bad a situation as he imagined it to be.

After a brief conversation about their focuses for the following day's training session, Soonyoung left the room. It was completely silent as soon as they were alone again but didn't feel too tense between them to start with, although that changed after a minute or two when Junhui dared to glance over at his boyfriend and was faced by a completely blank expression. His stomach flipped when he saw that look. Minghao clearly wasn't happy with him, and he didn't need words to confirm it. He maintained eye contact for longer than necessary, and his lips became a pursed line as he stared his boyfriend down. "I thought we'd agreed to not do that," he said smoothly after a while.

"I'm sorry, I panicked."  
"You panicked." Minghao's tone was dry and harsh, although he tried to play off the disappointment by rubbing his hands over his face, "Okay, I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning." He stood from his seat, making sure to still be gentle as he pulled his arm out of Junhui's grip, then made his way out of the room.

Junhui sat in silence for a few minutes. He didn't know what to do with himself, or even how he was supposed to be feeling over the situation that he'd put himself in. He sat in silence for a while as he tried to figure out what the best steps to take were, although the only thing he could come up with in the end was to go to the room and talk it through with him. Everything else was surely going to cause more harm than good, especially if he was to leave it until the next morning. That would be a death wish, considering how his boyfriend often blew things out of proportion when he was angry or upset.

It took a minute or two for him to build up the confidence to go to their room, since there was an equal chance of Minghao being angry with him and wanting to talk. Yet, it could only be put off for so long, and so he eventually pulled himself off the sofa and dragged himself through to their bedroom, making sure to come up with what he wanted to say well in advance so that he could hopefully increase the chances of getting a good reaction from his boyfriend. Once he reached the door, he made sure to knock straight away so that he couldn't back out, then entered despite the lack of response.

It didn't take an expert to know that Minghao was in a grumpy mood. He was laid in Junhui's bed, facing towards the door with a scowl and furrowed eyebrows, but as soon as Junhui entered the room, he turned to face the wall and tugged his stuffed jellyfish close to his chest. On a positive note, though, he hadn't shouted or anything, so Junhui made a beeline for the bed before giving Minghao a gentle tap on the shoulder. "Would you mind if I got in with you, baby?"

Part of him had hoped that the pet name would leave his boyfriend soft, since that was the usual affect, but instead he gave a childish huff. "Baby, am I allowed to climb in bed and cuddle with you?"  
"No." It was followed with another little huff as he tucked his knees up closer to his body. Minghao was being stubborn but not too harsh now, and so Junhui figured that it was still okay to sit with him and try to work it out, even if he wasn't allowed to lay with him.

He squatted down next to the bed and tried his best to resist his immediate urge to stroke Minghao's hair in case it upset him, as difficult as it was. "Do you want to talk about it?" He waited for a moment but there was no reply, and so he called out for his boyfriend again.  
"What is there to talk about? You don't want anyone to know that we're in a relationship," he grumbled into his jellyfish, "You know, Jun, I think they all already know. They're not stupid, apart from maybe Soonyoung."

"That's not nice," Junhui replied, although frankly he was fighting back the urge to laugh. Minghao turned his head to look at his expression and laid in silence judging his face for a moment. His own expression softened ever so slightly, despite his attempts at looking as if he was still in the middle of something that was more than a brief temper tantrum.  
"Says the guy who told me that Mingyu was a disgusting slob right in front of him in Mandarin."  
"Come on, he wiped his nose germs in my hair, baby."  
"You made a comment about how you know Seungkwan tops because he's too loud for people to not notice otherwise."  
"It was just a joke; we don't know if he's even into guys. And besides, we were all thinking it."

At that point, Minghao couldn't even hold back his grin, and he was having a particularly hard time with hiding it too. "You said that Jihoon is an evil little shit and he needs to go back to Busan. Don't act like I'm the only one." Junhui couldn't even deny that one. It was only half serious, since the younger boy was often unintentionally harsh to the others in the group and it was an ongoing joke that he was secretly a demon, seeing as he was shorter and thus closer to hell, but the comment still stood.

It was the perfect way to get Minghao to calm down, so he didn't really mind being called out for the jokingly harsh conversations that they'd had in the past. He turned to face Junhui again and shuffle further onto the bed so that his back was against the wall. The jellyfish stayed close to his chest the whole time, and even when Junhui moved onto the bed too and laid down close to his boyfriend, he still didn't dare to touch him. "I didn't mean to make you hurt over it," he admitted simply as he tried to avoid making eye contact with Minghao again, "I love you, but I'm just scared."

"Look, I've had things with girls in the past. I've dated a few and had crushes before, too. I've had so many situations where girls have been embarrassed to be seen with me. I'm not too strong and I'm pretty small in build, and I act a lot tougher than I probably am. Sometimes even I think I might be an embarrassment to be seen with because I'm nothing special. I don't want to think I'm finally in love with someone for real and have them be embarrassed too." He immediately flipped over to that he was facing away from his boyfriend again and curled back up into a ball, and Junhui could tell from the side of his face alone that his expression was scrunched up and upset again.

He felt bad. It was probably the worst feeling that he'd ever experienced, since it was clear that Minghao was incredibly disappointed in him, and although it didn't exactly fix the situation, he figured that it might take the edge off if he were to cuddle up close. He wrapped himself around Minghao's body, just as they'd done almost every night in their early days, but instead of relaxing into his touch, Minghao's body completely tensed up.

"I'm gonna give you three seconds to stop touching me, jerk. I'm not in the mood for this right now." His voice was clearly showing that he was tired, and he made sure to tuck his legs up a bit tighter as he spoke. Whilst Junhui thought it would be a better option for Minghao to move to his own bed if he didn't want to be touched, he didn't argue with his boyfriend's request in the slightest. After all, even if he was angry, he was still okay with having the little bit of contact with him where they were _almost_ touching.

Junhui's sleep was disturbed when he finally drifted off. Junhui was certain that he had woken at least four or five times in the night, as if he was sub-consciously worried that he would wake up to find that his boyfriend was no longer there. Yet, Junhui woke in the morning to Minghao tucked against his side with his head on his chest. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that he had woken earlier than necessary, but whilst he had expected that Minghao would still be asleep, he felt his boyfriend's body shaking slightly as he pressed his face harder into his shirt. Both hands were clinging, which concerned Junhui a bit, but he decided to be delicate about it by stroking Minghao's back and kissing his forehead before asking him if he wanted to talk about it.

Minghao remained quiet for a moment, leaving Junhui laying quietly in anticipation, but finally he lifted his head to reveal puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks as he reached up to wipe his face on the back of a hand. "Daddy, I--" he choked as he tried to calm himself enough to speak. Junhui immediately abandoned the touch-free request that his boyfriend had given him the night before as he moved to wrap his arms around Minghao's body. Whilst he still expected to be nudged away, he was surprised but happy to find that the smaller boy shuffled up onto his lap and wrapped his limbs around Junhui.

They laid there for a few minutes with neither of them speaking, before Minghao finally decided to pipe up. His face shifted to press against the curve of Junhui's neck, whilst his cheek rested against his shoulder in a way that was comfortable for both of them.  
"I don't like it when we fight. Please don't leave me because you're embarrassed by me; I'll do anything to make you proud." His voice was quiet and it was clear that he was feeling fragile.  
"You do make me proud," Junhui pointed out as he ran a hand through Minghao's hair, "I love you."

"I had a dream where you weren't, though, and it was so realistic. I told everyone and you broke up with me and said that you didn't want to be forced into telling." Junhui could feel that his body was shaking slightly, and he simply held him closer to his chest as he continued to stroke his hair.  
"I'm not going to break up with you over that," he promised, "Even if you did tell everyone, what would be the point in coming out if I broke up with my boyfriend straight away?"  
"But you didn't _want_ to come out."  
"But I _do_ , baby boy. We're going to get some warm milk and sit together, okay?"

Minghao nodded and allowed himself to be carried to the kitchen like a baby animal. Junhui felt his heart skip a beat when they walked in to find Seungcheol already awake and making himself coffee, although the older boy simply offered a slight smile through the exhaustion in his eyes and turned back to his drink instead of chatting to them. It made the fact that they were tangled together in front of other members of the group easier to handle and Minghao seemingly appreciated the fact that his boyfriend hadn't just dropped him the moment they'd seen the group leader, and they were able to get the drink with little fuss.

Junhui had made a conscious decision to be as affectionate as possible with Minghao prior to their training session. He hadn't _quite_ let it slip that they were romantically involved still, but everyone had completely understood when he said that Minghao was having difficulty dealing with a particularly bad dream, and so it had been completely dropped.

As soon as they got to the training room, on the other hand, the affection abruptly stopped. They had arrived at around nine o'clock and by that point, Junhui had been essentially babying his boyfriend for three or so hours already. He was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that the nightmare excuse could only really hold up for so long before it became obvious that it was something more than that, and whilst he thought he had convinced himself that everything would be fine if he came out, it was starting to take its toll on his nerves again.

It hit him harder than ever. Junhui was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was having to come incredibly close to his boyfriend in front of all of their friends, and on occasion they would be doing what could be considered fan service. Although for the most part it only included little bits of skin contact, such as touching his boyfriend's cheeks, he found that he was easily avoiding his chances to do so by almost getting there but always skipping into the next part of the dance before the contact was made.

"Why are you acting awkward about getting too close to me again, Junhui?" Minghao huffed at the end of the song, "It's almost as if you don't want to be near me." The use of his full name was uncomfortable to hear from the younger boy. It was always either Jun or Daddy; never Junhui.  
"That's not it! I'm just trying to focus on getting the dance right," he explained, but he was immediately met by a squint from his boyfriend.  
"The whole _point_ is that we're supposed to be getting close, you jerk."

Junhui knew that he was right. He was supposed to be making skin contact with his boyfriend without worrying about what anyone else would think, and it was probably even more obvious that something had changed if he was avoiding it now, as with everything else. He couldn't help himself, though. He had figured that he was on the defensive and it was something that he was going to have to change, but the more he was thinking about it, the more awkward he was getting.

"When's the wedding?" Seungkwan called out across the practice room with a grin, "You're always bickering like you're married or something."

Junhui's entire body seized. In seconds, his palms were slick and his heart was racing in his chest. He was certain that his breath was starting to catch in his chest too, especially when he noticed that Minghao had also become very rigid. There was a slight discomfort in his expression; Junhui knew immediately that it wasn't about the question, but rather the fact that he had wanted more than anything to openly call him his boyfriend. Yet, he forced a smile onto quivering features as he turned to face the rest of the group and gave an awkward laugh.

He went to say something, but seemingly changed his mind as he made his way towards Soonyoung to get tips for improvement instead. It left Junhui's heart sinking in his chest. He just stood there, staring after him as he tried to figure out what he should do about the situation, but his boyfriend didn't even spare another glance at him once he was with their friend.

It was clear that he was upset with the situation. Junhui felt awful but he didn't know what to do with himself. There was a little piece of him that wanted to sort it, but his anxiety over the whole situation was still very much there. A piece of him guessed that the group wouldn't care all too much, seeing as they were all very good friends and he had his suspicions that some of the other boys had romantic attachments, but at the same time there was a chance that some of them would suddenly grow to be uncomfortable around them if they came out. On one side, coming out would be much better for them in the long-term, but on the other, it could absolutely destroy them in the then and now.

All in all, though, he knew that there was a special piece of him that knew how miserable being closeted made Minghao. It was past what he tried to hide by slipping into headspace, and past the way that he acted grumpy when Junhui skilfully dodged every opportunity to tell everyone about their feelings for each other. It had taken a lot for him to tell Minghao how he felt about him and it was going to be even more difficult to tell the group, but it was something that had to be done.

"Actually," Junhui announced, ignoring the way that his voice broke as he spoke, "Could I have everyone's attention for a moment?"

It was a mistake. Everyone turned around to face him with confused expressions, leaving him feeling exposed and uncomfortable again, but now that he had taken them away from their practice, it was something that he had to do. Minghao in particular seemed to be concerned by the sudden call for attention, and he took a few steps towards his boyfriend as they made eye contact. "I-I just want to let you all know that Minghao and I have had a little thing going for around half a year already and we started a romantic relationship pretty recently. So yeah, we're dating now."

There was stunned silence around the practice room, and Junhui instantly felt his entire body prickle with panic. For the most part, the expressions of his friends were completely unreadable, although Jeonghan in particular seemed to be excited by the news and Minghao seemed to have been completely caught off guard.

"Jun?" Minghao breathed as he made his way over to where his boyfriend was standing. The way that he looked at him showed that there were hundreds of things that he wanted so say to him right there and then, but when none of those words came out, he simply grabbed for Junhui's cheeks and kissed him hard on the lips.

As much as he hated public displays of affection and certainly wouldn't have usually wanted to be kissed like that in front of their friends, Junhui felt strangely relieved to have that bit of affection to break the touch barrier right there and then. In an instant, he was flooded with the feeling that perhaps it wouldn't be too bad to show his feelings for Minghao a bit more, and it was something that he could find himself enjoying even when the rest of the group was around. Admittedly, he was still probably going to keep some caps on the contact, but it was better than being too nervous to even hug his boyfriend in front of anyone else.

He was particularly relieved when they almost immediately got back to work. Granted, a few of their closer friends congratulated them on the start of their relationship, but it was back to normal in such little time that it was almost as if the build up had been for nothing at all. It was what Junhui had hoped for from the point that they'd started what they had, but it was simultaneously something that he had been pushing away during their time together. He was no longer worried about being loving towards his boyfriend outside of his headspace, and he decided that it was exactly where he wanted to be with Minghao now that they had it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's taken so long to get this done!! The original idea lasted for quite a bit longer, including the rest of the group occasionally seeing snippets of headspace Minghao trying to get his own way and Junhui having to push through bratty phases when Minghao gets particularly tired, but it seemed like a decent place to end it all, seeing as the last two chapters were a bit of a struggle to write and all. Hopefully it's a satisfying ending too, even if it does have a bit less of the daddy stuff and leaves everything afterwards to the imagination a bit.
> 
> Thank you for reading as always and please feel free to comment with any thoughts!! <3


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